Yugioh Arc-V: Return of the Red Dragon Emperor
by Malicious hero
Summary: Partially inspired by star eyes pendulum dragon's story: Yugioh Arc v: The White Dragon Emperor. Killed in a last ditch attempt at payback by Kaguya, Naruto Uzumaki is shocked to discover that his life as a shinobi is not his first life. That life was put on hold, but is now to be resumed. With the Red Dragons by his side, He'll carve a path to victory. DUEL!
1. Prologue

**Hey all, this is your friendly neighbourhood Malicious hero here, with a brand new story. Wow, feels like ages since I did that. Anyhow, a shout out to star eyes pendulum dragon, whose work is AWESOME can I just say. Without them, this fic would not exist, since I doubt that I would have thought of it. Hope you enjoy it!**

Normal text/thoughts

 **Tailed beast text/ _thoughts_**

 **Duel Spirit text/ _thoughts_**

Yugioh Arc-V: Rise of the Red Dragon Emperor

Prologue

To say that Naruto Uzumaki was confused right now would be an understatement. He had just recently awoken to find himself in what appeared to be an endless white void, entirely empty for nought but himself.

"Where on earth am I?!" He uttered in slight disbelief as he continued to look around himself. It was then that he noticed, that although he felt like he was standing on something solid, the void continued on underneath him. That realisation gave him a slight sense of vertigo.

Kneeling down with eyes closed, he steadied his breathing and tried to figure out what had happened.

 _Ok, calm down. The last thing I remember was grabbing that insane rabbit chick, along with Sasuke, to complete the sealing jutsu. Next there was this strange pain in my gut, then nothing. That doesn't tell me where I am or why I'm here._

"Then perhaps you will allow me to explain."

Naruto's eyes snapped open and his head turned to the left so fast, it was a surprise he didn't get whiplash. Hovering a few feet away from him, with his legs crossed was an old man with reddish grey hair, with two bangs lifted upwards like horns. His eyes were showing and active Rinnegan, but on the centre of his forehead was a third eye socket containing an functioning Rinne-Sharingan. He was wearing a monks robe, and carried a shakujo staff in one hand, laying it across his lap.

He was a man long thought to be a myth to the shinobi world. A man Naruto knew all too well. His name was Hagoromo Otsutsuki; the Sage of Six paths.

"Old man sage,... what's going on? Where's Sasuke and the others?" He asked, concerned for his teammates.

Hagoromo let out a long sigh. "I'm afraid there's no easy way to put this..."

Naruto blinked in confusion. What was he talking about?

"..., you're dead."

Naruto blinked again, then raised a hand to his ears.

"I'm sorry, I think I misheard you. Did you just say that...?" He trailed off, unable to finish the question.

"That you're dead? Yes, I did." Was the solemn reply.

Naruto gave it a moment for that fact to sink in.

"How?" He asked quietly, not really sure how to process this fact.

Hagoromo raised an eyebrow at this reaction, having expected the knucklehead shinobi to break out in a fit of panic.

"It appears the reversion process is proceeding more quickly than I imagined. To answer your questions, just as you and Indra's successor completed the sealing jutsu to bind my mother Kaguya, she made one last attempt to hurt you. She skewered both you and Sasuke on a pair of all-killing ash bones. Your other friends are quite safe, given that the Infinite Tsyukomi is no longer in effect. Your sacrifices will never be forgotten."

Whilst this did explain how he died, which saddened the now former jinchuriki, the Sages first statement caught his attention.

"Reversion process?" He asked, now even more confused than he had been earlier. "What are you talking about?" His eyes narrowing, his look becoming a tad annoyed.

The sage merely looked at him with... a look of remorse.

"I do apologise for my actions, Menma, but you will understand what has happened soon enough."

Naruto's face lost that look near instantly. "Menma? That isn't my name." As soon as he said that though, he felt as if he had said something wrong, as if he had just lied to the Sage.

Hagoromo shook his head sadly. "Yes, it is. Or rather it was your original name."

Naruto was starting to get annoyed and angry. "Would you stop talking in riddles and tell me what you mean?" He grit out.

"To explain that," the sage replied, "I need to explain a bit more about the past of the shinobi world, and your true origins." Naruto raised any eyebrow, but nodded at him to continue.

"As you no doubt already know, my sons Indra and Ashura's fighting left several scars upon the world, more so when I chose Ashura to be my successor. Though looking back, I should have realised that both their ideals; that both power and love were needed for long lasting peace. As time went on, after their deaths, the shinobi clan era began. For a time, I hoped that people would eventually realise that fighting each other served no real purpose." He began, with Naruto listening intently, not wanting to miss anything.

"As you can imagine, I was later shocked to see that my sons chakra had transmigrated, into Hashirama Senju for Ashura, and Madara Uchiha for Indra." At the second last name, our blonde shinobi let out a small growl. He was not a fan of that man at all.

"I had hoped my sons would have stopped fighting with the creation of Konoha, but alas, my hopes were left quashed when Madara left the village, and the fighting resumed. I was left horrified by the damage their fight caused, despite it ending in Ashura's victory. Madara did not die as everyone thought however. It was then that a more troubling situation arose. Madara managed to find the Gedo Mazo, and then awakened the Rinnegan, at the manipulation of my mothers spawn, Black Zetsu."

Naruto was slowly beginning to lose patience with the sage.

"I already knew most of this already. What does all this have to do with me? Aside from me being Ashura's next transmigration."

The sage raised a hand to stop the blonde. "I'm getting too that. After Madara's death, I knew it was only a matter of time before my sons transmigrated again to finish their war with each other. And given how the jutsus of the shinobi would only get more and more dangerous as time went on... the possibility of the next incarnations destroying an entire country or even the world itself was not entirely unfounded. Knowing Indra's greed when it came to power, I knew that his next form would be even more focused on the power he obtained in the last few moments of his previous life. I knew I had to do something. I needed to give Ashura's next form a solid foundation, in order to possibly end my sons fight. But what was I to do? I could not interfere with a soul newly being brought into the world. I was stumped by the issue... until a solution finally presented itself."

"And what was that solution?" Naruto asked, feeling as if he wasn't going to like the answer.

"I stumbled across a young man, terribly injured inside the void between dimensions, where we are now. At first I attempted to heal him, but progress was slow, and his soul was fading. In order for him to survive, I had to remove the soul to keep it safe, until the body recovered. Once I had, I grew curious about who this man was and how he had gotten himself into this situation. So using his soul, I looked through the mans memories. After that, I did the most terrible thing I have ever done."

Naruto looked at him with narrowed eyes, still unsure where the sage was going with this.

"The man was practically everything I wanted Ashura's new form to be. So, in a moment of weakness, I bound Ashura's chakra to the soul, and sent it to be reincarnated in the shinobi world."

Naruto went pale, his eyes wide in disbelief at what he just heard. The disbelief then turned to anger.

"A-are you telling me, that you ripped me from a life I was already living, just to save the people of the shinobi world; just to give them a child of prophecy!?" He roared in righteous anger. Though part of him could understand Hagoromo's point of view, he was not pleased about him playing god with his life. He had liked his life as a Shinobi, but this new information made it leave a slight bitter taste in his mouth.

"To put it bluntly,... yes." The sage replied sadly. He looked at the blond in pity. He had often regretted that decision, but now he was determined to make up for it.

Naruto merely stared at the sage angrily, but forced himself to remain calm.

"What was my name? Where did I come from? You owe me those answers at least." He growled, his fists clenched so hard, he was surprised he had not yet drawn blood.

 _I'll give you more than that._ The sage thought with a small smile.

"Your name was, or should I say is, Menma Atlas." The sage began, Naruto starting to calm down to pay attention. "You were born into a very different world to this one. Where shinobi use jutsu's to fight, the people of your world fought using a card game known as Duel Monsters."

As soon as those words were spoken, Naruto took a step back with a slight groan, placing a hand on his forehead as the mother of all headaches shot through him. As quickly as it began however, it ceased just as quickly.

"I-I remember it now. I remember my dad teaching me. I remember how enjoyable it was duelling with my friends." He whispered, slowly coming to accept the Sages words.

"In that case," the Sage remarked, smiling slightly, "you'll be needing this back. I looked after it for you." Slowly, he withdrew something from his robe sleeve. Naruto's eyes widened at the sight of a deck of cards, with the brown and dark brown vortex pattern on the back of each card.

"You kept my deck?" He asked, slightly incredulous.

"Of course. To my understanding, a duelists deck is his soul. I kept it in hopes of one day returning it to you, as penance for my sin. The spirits inside have waited a long time for you to return. That time is now. Take it."

Slowly, Naruto moved and reached forward to retrieve it. His hand was only a few inches away from the deck, when it suddenly flew out of Hagoromo's hand and into his own. As soon as he touched it, he felt a slight sense of warmth fill him. As if he had recovered something that was missing from his life. He felt whole again.

A small tear rolled down his whisker marked cheek, as he heard several joyful bugles and triumphant roars coming from the deck. Achingly, he flipped over the top card. The card showed a level 8 synchro monster. One he knew only too well.

"Red Dragon Archfiend..." he whispered, clutching the card to his chest. "I'm sorry it took so long to find you all again."

" **It is not your fault, Master. You could not have predicted this occurring. We do not blame you.** " A deep reptilian voice echoed throughout the void. Naruto cried for a few moments as his dragon's words sunk in.

"Indeed. We blame this meddling old man." Another voice spoke up.

Naruto turned to see two semi-transparent men standing behind him. The man who spoke was a young brown haired man with a rather serious expression on his face. He was wearing a long sleeveless white coat, with a small silver KC attached to the collar. Under that was a black shirt and pants, with extra belts wrapped around his shins and his arms.

The other man was spiked blonde haired, around a similar age to the first. He was dressed mostly in white and grey, wearing a matching long coat, fingerless gloves and boots with dark blue pants. The top part of the jacket, from the middle of his chest to the collar was folded outward, showing a purple lining. Attached to his ears were monogram A earrings, with a similar emblem embedded on his belt buckle.

Naruto's eyes widened at the sight of the two men. Partially in disbelief, partially in happiness.

"Kaiba... Jack... you're here..." he said, utterly overwhelmed by seeing his spiritual teachers again.

"Where else would we be?" Jack said with a small laugh. He crossed his arms. Then smiled again. "I may not have been the same Jack Atlas that helped bring you into our world, but I've seen enough to know that I'd be proud of you regardless. You do the Atlas name proud." Naruto gave a small smile at his words.

"That's enough reunion time." Kaiba cut in, before he could break down completely. He then turned to look at Hagoromo. "Have you told him what else is happening?"

"Thank you for reminding me." The Sage remarked, before turning back to Naruto. "Naruto, you now have a choice. You can return to your former life, with your deck, and your old body now healed, but only if you want to."

Naruto was silent for a moment as he processed the offer. "What will happen to my friends?"

"If you choose to return to your previous life, I will explain the situation to them. Life will return to normal for them. You on the other hand would die truly, and enter the Shinigami's realm. Now what is your choice?"

"Are you kidding me? Of course I'll go back." He said. "Sure I'll miss my friends and family here, but I can finally live how I was meant to again. I lived too long under that prophecy. I would like a chance to live."

Both Kaiba and Jack gave triumphant smirks toward the Sage, who merely nodded in understanding.

"Bear in mind that I did make some changes to your old body. You'll still be able to use chakra, but your reserves will be nowhere near as high as your shinobi self."

"Thank you, old man sage."

Hagoromo raised a hand to stop him. "Do not thank me. I cannot take back what I did to you. I merely hope this will make it so that we can be at least civil with one another."

"I understand." Naruto nodded. The sage then snapped his fingers.

"I almost forgot. Someone else will also be accompanying you."

"Who would-?"

Before Naruto could finish asking who he meant, A small head popped out of Hagoromo's robe. A small fox head with rabbit-like ears. Naruto gave a small gasp as the small creature darted out and raced up so that it was now perched on Naruto's left shoulder.

" **Who else, Kit?** " Chuckled a much smaller Kurama, his nine tails flowing out behind him.

"Kurama? That you, buddy?"

" **All nine tails of me! I couldn't just let you go like that. The old man fixed me up, so I'm whole again! Well, that and he shrunk me down a bit...** " Kurama trailed off at that, a little embarrassed at his current size compared to his previous one.

"He wouldn't dream of leaving you." Hagoromo remarked, happy that his creation, once so full of hate, finally had found someone to call a friend. "Take care of each other, you two."

"You got it, old man!" Naruto exclaimed, his fox-like grin on his face.

" **I'll be sure to keep this idiot out of trouble!** "

"You keep me out of trouble?! Just who exactly had to keep your furry self out of the Akatsuki's hands?!"

Just like that the pair began friendly bickering.

"When your done, we'll see you on the other side." Said Kaiba, having quite enough of the minor argument, raising a hand in farewell at the group. Jack gave a small nod, before the pair faded away.

"One last thing before you go," The sage said quickly, "your old life's memories may still be a little fragmented from the restoration process, but they should restore themselves in time."

A large blue glowing elipse shape began forming not too far from where the pair were talking. Naruto turned to look at it, as the Sage gestured toward it.

"It is time, Naruto Uzumaki. Go forth and live."

Naruto turned and began walking toward the now fully formed portal.

" **So what will you do now? I don't think you can become Hokage in this place.** " Kurama asked curiously, wondering what his former container had planned.

Naruto paused in his step, the fact hitting him a little close to home. He had wanted to be Hokage for so long. Now that dream was forever beyond his reach. What would he do with his new life? What would his dream be? After a moment of thought, he smirked.

"I may not be able to become hokage, but I'll be the best damn duelist this world has ever seen. And I never go back on my word, that is my nindo, my ninja way."

Kurama gave a fanged grin at the blond's words. " **Then let's show them what we're made of, Kit!** "

With that, he resumed his walk to the portal, only to pause again as he was about to step through. The reason being that the Sage had spoke his final words to him.

"Good luck, Naruto Uzumaki."

Hagoromo could not see Naruto's face, was was uncertain to his reaction. He got his answer when Naruto lifted his left arm, and gave a thumbs up. And with that arm still raised, he stepped through, both he and Kurama never to be seen by the shinobi world again.

The Sage watched the portal as it closed.

"Yes, good luck indeed,... Ultimaya Tzolkin, the Crimson Dragon..."

With that, he faded away, leaving the void empty once more.

 **Hope you guys like the prologue! I'm going to try and update this one regularly. For those who want to know what's happening with my other fic, Terminator 5d's, I am still writing the second chapter. I do apologise, but due to other commitments, I haven't been able to devote as much time to writing as I would like.**

 **So anyway, please drop a review. FLAMERS WILL BE FED TO RED DRAGON ARCHFIEND'S FLAMES!**


	2. Arrival! Roar, Red Dragons!

**Hey all, MH is back with a new chapter. But first, since I forgot to do it last chapter, I'll just say that I don't own Yugioh Arc-V or Naruto. It'd be nice if I did, but what can you do?**

 **First some responses to some reviewers.**

 **Drago: do you mean you want me to make Naruto to summon the Ultimaya Tzolkin card at some point? Plz PM me or leave another review with your answer.**

 **AzureWarrior: while it is a nice idea, I'm sorry to say that I already have an idea in mind for a card based on him. Besides, Kurama isn't going to be a duel spirit. He'll be outside and able to interact with people.**

 **On with the story!**

Chapter 1: Arrival! Roar, Red Dragons!

Sunlight pierced Naruto's eyelids as he slowly awoke. After entering that portal, he had seen black. With a groan, he stirred, rubbing his eyes as he slowly sat up.

" **About time you got up, Brat.** "

Shaking his head slightly, he turned to Kurama, whom was sitting on a large patch of grass near him, still in his small form. Looking around, Naruto found that it appeared that he had been deposited in a park of some sort, with him having been lying on a metal park bench. There were a few trees spread out around them, and the path the bench was next to seemed to lead to a fountain that he could see in the distance.

From the looks of things, it was in the early hours of the morning, as the sun was only a little over the horizon, and there were no other people in sight. Naruto swung his legs off the bench to get up, only to knock over a bag that had been leaning on it.

"Huh? What's this?" He muttered, reaching down to pick it up. It was a black medium sized canvas bag, the top closed by the thin cords that made up the straps. * **1**

" **No idea. I just found it lying there.** " Kurama shrugged, equally curious as he padded over to the bench. " **By the way, nice look Brat.** "

Wondering what Kurama was talking about, Naruto looked down at himself, then almost let out a gasp in surprise at his new clothes. For starters, he was dressed in a long coat, much like Jack's own, but where his coat was white and purple, Naruto's was black and red. Additionally, the coat sported a hood, and along the bottom edge was a red flame pattern, much like the haori belonging to his shinobi life's father, Minato Namikaze. The last detail about the coat, was that it had the Kanji for "Red Dragon" running downwards on its upper back. Next was an orange sleeveless t-shirt, black pants and red boots.

Around his waist and wrapped around the coat was a red belt with a circular black buckle, which had a strange red symbol emblazoned on it. It looked like an outline of a red dragon, which was wrapped around in a near circle, the head on the left, the tail on the right. The wings sprouted out of the top left and right corners, and the inside of the outline had a clawed hand halfway up the left side, and a foot similarly positioned on the right.

The only item missing from the outfit to make it match Jack's, were the fingerless gloves, but to be honest, Naruto didn't mind that.

His attention was drawn to a small pendant around his neck. It was a long, thin red gem attached at the top in two places to a cord that connected it to the chain wrapped around his neck. If it wasn't for the colour, Naruto would have sworn it was the same gem he had won off Tsunade in the shinobi world. But that was impossible, considering Kurama had destroyed that jewel in a rampage when Pein had attacked Konoha.

"Wow..." he blinked at it in slight awe.

" **Not bad at all, right? Of course, I wasn't just talking about the clothes.** "

Curious, with the bag still in hand, Naruto jogged down the path to the fountain, the fox chasing after him with a slight laugh. Once there, he leaned slightly over the edge to get a look at his reflection.

His hairstyle had altered to now resemble Jacks own, but he still retained the same hair colour as his shinobi self. The only other difference was that his face had thinned slightly. His eyes and whisker marks had remained the same.

"Whoever designed that outfit clearly had good taste." Jack stated, suddenly appearing right next to him. Naruto jumped slightly, having not expected either him or Kaiba to appear at that moment, almost falling into the fountain. Kurama wasn't much better, tumbling onto his back in surprise.

"Oh? And what do you have to base that on other than your own biased opinion?" Speak of the devil, and he shall appear. There was Kaiba now.

"Nothing, I'm just stating facts." Jack replied with a mocking shrug. "It's a lot better than the clothes of an outdated old fossil, who shall remain unnamed."

Kaiba went red, a tick mark forming, and was about to utter a retort, when Kurama spoke up, having finally gotten himself upright.

" **You can argue whose outfit is better later! We have more important things to do than standing here bickering!** "

"Thank you, Kurama..." Naruto muttered, massaging his forehead as he did so. He just knew that the fox's intervention had prevented a massive headache. "That's enough, you two, he's right."

The spiritual pair merely glared at each other briefly, before turning away in a slight huff. Kaiba then locked eyes with Naruto.

"Before we go any further, I believe it best we reacquaint you with the rules of Duel monsters. Regardless of you remembering some of what this idiot's counterpart (Jack let out an "OI!" at that, glaring at his co-teacher) has taught you, I don't want to leave anything to chance. If you're going to represent us, you better be able to walk the walk. I refuse to have an incompetent protégé."

Naruto gave a nod, he could understand where the former billionaire was coming from. He had just spent a lifetime not dueling, it would make sense for him to be a tad rusty.

Kaiba began explaining the basics, about monster, spell and trap cards, with Jack pitching in every so often. They then moved on to the turn structure, followed by the different types of extra deck monsters, the fusions, synchro's and xyz, and how to summon each type of monster. * **2**

Whilst this was occurring, Kurama's curiosity got the better of him as he moved over to the bag that had apparently been forgotten, dropped when Jack had first appeared. Opening it at the top, the fox poked his head in to see what was inside. Inside was a red electrical device, about the size of a forearm with a screen on top, that Kurama supposed was this 'duel disk' device he kept on hearing about from the other three during their small lecture. There was also a small book, however he couldn't make out the title. Finally, there were two other items that caught his eye.

Blinking, he reached in and pulled out a letter and a large scroll, both of which had Naruto's name on them.

" **Naruto...,** " he called out, getting the attention of the other three easily. " **I think you should look at these.** "

Naruto, upon hearing the tailed beast, turned in surprise at Kurama's tone. Looking at what was in Kurama's paws, he turned back to the pair of past duelists, an unspoken question asked.

A small look of understanding came across Jacks face, before he nodded and vanished. Kaiba gave him a small look that easily said, 'Don't disappoint me', before disappearing as well. Returning his attention to the small bijuu, Naruto moved and accepted the letter from him, before breaking it open.

He then sat on the edge of the fountain as he began to read.

 _Naruto,_

 _I wish I could say I understood what you were going through, but that would be a lie. Both Kushina and I were furious with the Sage when he told us what he had done. While it may have been unknowingly, we both played a part in ripping you from your former life. For that, we both apologize._

 _Thankfully, he at the very least allowed us to write this message to you. He mentioned that the journey back to your world would render you unconscious for a time, so that this message and some other things could potentially be delivered. We will understand if you no longer wish to remember your life in our world. While you may no longer see us this way, we will always consider you as our son, and hope that you can still see us as family._

 _We wish you well in your restored life._

 _With understanding,_

 _Minato Namikaze,_

 _Yondaime Hokage_

 _P.S. the scroll contains some things Minato and I would have taught you should we have survived that fateful night. Please keep it safe. Or destroy it if you don't desire it, whichever works._

 _-Kushina Uzumaki, dattebane!_

Naruto gave a slight sweat drop at the blunt ending note, but couldn't help but be touched. While they had not needed to, as they had been taken advantage of much like he was, they had tried to make amends for this upheaval.

"You'll always be family to me..." he whispered quietly, a small tear falling as he did so. Shaking his sad thoughts away, he gestured for Kurama to hand over the scroll. He contemplated opening it now, but decided against it, as he would prefer to do it in a more private setting. Especially since, he could now see a few people walking along the paths around the park now.

With that, he replaced the scroll in the bag, then looked contemplative.

" **Something on your mind?** " Kurama asked softly, not wanting to be heard by a potential passerby.

"You could say that," was the reply. "I've gone so long being called Naruto, that it'd be weird to use my old name. At the same time though, I want to accept both lives as a part of me. I'm trying to figure out what to call myself now."

Kurama gave a slight shrug as he let his container think it over. It sounded reasonable to him.

After a moment, Naruto smirked, as he came to a decision. Pulling his duel disk out of the bag, he turned on the screen, then accessed the settings app, to check if the disk was registered under a name yet. It wasn't. Smiling, he typed a name in.

 _Naruto Atlas-Uzumaki_

Chuckling a bit, he returned the disk to his bag, and then slung it over his shoulder.

Gesturing for Kurama to hop on his shoulder, he stood up. Once his furry companion was in place, he began walking, eager to see this new place.

" **You do realize we can think to each other? The old man made a new mental link between us.** "

Naruto face planted. He waited until now to mention that?!

 **Several hours later...**

Naruto's eye twitched as he once again had to take to the rooftops in order to avoid being spotted. Turned out that people his age were expected to go to school in this world. And unless someone gave him a really good reason, it would be a cold day in hell before he attended a civilian high school.

Grumbling in slight annoyance, he opened his bag to let Kurama out for a bit. They had quickly realized that Kurama wasn't a typical animal native to this world. As a result, the fox had been forced to hide inside Naruto's bag, so as to not possibly cause a scene.

Whilst the nine tails could accept that logic, part of him still felt that Naruto was also using it as a form of payback against him for keeping their new mental link a secret for a laugh. Particularly considering that the bag was quite uncomfortable for him.

" **Urgh! I thought I'd never get out of that death trap.** " The fox muttered, stretching his limbs and tails out as he did so.

"Oh, come off it, you know we can't let people see you, they'd freak out."

" **At the moment, I'd take a freak out than going back in there!** " Kurama shot back, eyeing the bag with distaste.

Naruto shook his head at the fox's antics, then moved to the edge of the building they were on to get an idea of where they were. From what the pair could tell, they were in a place called Paradise City. Looking down, he could see a large building complex set out across from him. In the courtyard out front, he could see people his age walking out with bags in hand or over their shoulders, all dressed in a uniform of sorts. He slumped in slight annoyance.

"The one place I try to avoid is the same place I end up locating. What are the odds?"

" **Beats me, Brat.** " Kurama shrugged. Suddenly a loud smack filled the air. " **But not as much as he's getting beaten!** "

Naruto blinked in slight surprise. Down in the courtyard, a boy's face had just been introduced to the ground, after getting walloped in the back of the head by a girl standing behind him. The girl had dark pink hair held up into pigtails with circular pins, blue eyes and was dressed in the girl's school uniform. Clutched in her hand was a paper fan, which Naruto supposed was what she had used to hit the boy. She had a rather angry look on her face.

Naruto rubbed his eyes. "Oh, dear Kami, there's this worlds version of Sakura."

" **I wouldn't go that far. I don't see anyone that she's fawning over.** " Kurama remarked, having not liked the pink haired medic in the slightest.

Back down below, the boy started to get up, rubbing the back of his head as he did so. This gave the watching pair their first good look at him. He was about the girl's height, wearing the schools jacket over his shoulders, over a red t-shirt and green pants. His eyes were a dark red, and his hair was a mop of green at the top and front, but grew out red coloured towards the back. Perched in his hair was also a set of orange goggles, with a blue star over the right eye.

Naruto blinked at the pair for a second. There was something about those two that he couldn't quite put his finger on...

" **Something up?** " Kurama asked, having noticed Naruto staring intently at the two students.

"I'm not sure. Those two... seem familiar somehow. But for the life of me, I can't think why." Was the reply, his gaze not changing.

" **The old man did say your memories would be a bit fractured. Perhaps you knew them in the past?** " The fox theorized.

"Possibly." Naruto shrugged.

Suddenly, Kurama jerked his head to the side with narrowed eyes. "What's wrong, Kurama?"

" **Negative emotions targeting those two.** " The bijuu remarked, gesturing back to the pair they had been observing, whom were now joined by a large black-haired boy clad in the school uniform, wooden sandals, a white sash tied over his back and chest, and a thin red cloth tied around his forehead. And from the way they were acting, they were friends. " **There.** "

Kurama pointed to a group of students that were situated around a corner, out of sight of the duo, now trio of friends, as they began to leave. The new group then split up, with about half going one way, the other half going another, leaving one other student to tail them.

Naruto narrowed his eyes. "I don't like this one little bit."

" **Nor I. What do we do?** "

"We'll just observe for now," Naruto replied, picking his bag back up ", but if things heat up, we'll interfere. Now get back in. I don't want you falling off my shoulder while I'm going."

 _ **I'm ssoooooo going to get him back for this.**_ Kurama thought with an eye twitch, as he reluctantly climbed back in.

"You can try."

 _ **I just broadcasted that through the link, didn't I?**_

"Yup."

 _ **Well, shit.**_

With that, Naruto laughed a little as he sped across the rooftops after the group.

 **With the trio...**

"So, you're Yuya Sakaki..."

Yuya turned around to look at who had spoken. He was not in a good mood. This new kid Sora had been pestering him for the past few days with the intention of Yuya being his duel 'teacher'. He'd even ambushed him in the bathroom for crying out loud! As if taking his breakfast pancakes on day one wasn't enough! * **3**

"I am. And you are...?" Yuya trailed off as he looked at the guy talking to him. The boy opposite him looked about a year older than he was, with a shock of white hair and grey eyes. He was wearing the school uniform, but what drew his attention was the LID badge attached on the left side of his chest.

Zuzu and Gong had also noticed this and glanced at each other worried. They didn't exactly have a good experience with that duel school, Yuya and Zuzu more so, due to the incident with Sylvio Sawatari a few days prior.

"Ah, where are my manners? Rick Ryouga's the name." The boy replied, running a hand through his hair as he did so. He then locked eyes with Yuya as his gaze turned into a glare. "Hard to believe a thief like you beat Sylvio."

"Gong takes great offence to that statement!" Gong growled out, taking a step in front of Yuya protectively. "Yuya is many things, but a thief isn't one of them!"

"That's right!" Zuzu exclaimed, looking at Rick icily. "Yuya has never stolen a thing in his life!"

"According to Sylvio, yes he has." Rick shot back. "He told us that after your duel with him, this thief stole two prototype cards that Sylvio was testing for the president." The trio of friends gawked at that statement.

"That's a lie!" Yuya uttered in complete disbelief at Sylvio's gall. "I didn't steal them, the cards were mine to begin with! Sylvio snatched them from me before the duel began!"

"That's right!" Zuzu nodded, backing her friend up. "If anyone's the thief, it's Sylvio!"

"So, you're not only a thief, but a liar too?" Rick asked rhetorically, tilting his head at them in a mocking manner. He closed his eyes and shrugged. "I guess I shouldn't have expected anything less from the son of the coward, Yusho Sakaki." He added mockingly.

Gong had to hold Yuya back from attacking Rick at that statement, as Zuzu let out a growl, close to pulling out her paper fan and pummeling this jerk into the ground with it.

"My father was no coward! He was the best duel-tainer ever, and I won't let anyone tarnish his name like that!" Yuya shot back, in a tone that was most uncharacteristic to the usually happy duelist.

"Temper, Temper... I'm just stating facts. Your father ran away from Sledgehammer, ergo he was a coward." Rick remained unperturbed at Yuya continued struggle to get out of Gong's grip. His face then turned serious. "But enough about that." Raising his left hand, he snapped his fingers.

The trio looked around as more male LID students emerged from hiding around the street they had just been walking along, from in front and behind them. They were completely surrounded.

"Gong has a bad feeling about this..." The large boy whispered to the others, worriedly, his head darting from side to side, taking in the number of LID students there. Yuya and Zuzu could only nod in agreement with wide eyes.

Not far away, just around the street corner, was the short form of the light blue haired boy, Sora, his trademark lollipop in his right hand. "Well, this is a predicament..." He muttered, blinking rapidly. He'd been following Yuya's group for a while now, hoping to try and convince Yuya to be his teacher again, only to stumble across this mess. Suddenly a shadow crossed overhead, then was gone. Sora's head shot up, and was confused when he saw nothing there. Thinking he must have imagined it, he turned back to the situation at hand, shaking his head as he did so.

Back with Yuya and co, things weren't looking so good. "Alright, Yuya, here's the deal. Your victory over Sylvio, being the student of a second rate duel school has tarnished our schools honour and reputation." At that statement, Zuzu snorted in slight incredulity. "You and I are going to duel. If I win, I get to take back the cards you stole from Sylvio, plus something extra. You win, we walk away."

Yuya didn't like the way that was worded. "What do you mean by something extra?" He asked with narrowed eyes, only to wish he hadn't when Rick's eyes briefly flickered over to Zuzu. He paled in understanding, as did Gong who looked at Rick in pure loathing. He was about to give the guy a piece of his mind, when someone else beat him to it.

"I think you'll find that the lady isn't a prize to be won, you sick bastard." an unknown voice rang out.  
"Who said that?" Rick shouted, looking around to find the source of the voice. And he wasn't the only one.

"Can't find me? I'm up here." All eyes turned to a nearby roof at that. There, crouched on the rooftop, was Naruto, his eyes narrowed at Rick with disdain. Standing up, he flipped off the roof, landing in a crouch between Rick and the group of three, surprising all observers with his agility.

"If there's one thing I can't stand, it's people who treat others like objects. Though I think you may be even worse." Naruto remarked, slowly getting up. "Now, I'm in a good mood for the moment, but it's slowly turning sour, so why don't you take your insults, perversions and boytoys elsewhere before I really get mad?"

The questions full wording sunk in, leaving Rick spluttering, Zuzu looking at Rick in disgust, having finally realized what he meant earlier, Yuya snickering at Rick's reaction, and Gong looking a little green. And judging from the other LID students reactions, they weren't comfortable with that notion either. Back with Sora, he had heard the whole thing, and was doing his best not to burst out laughing. It was becoming a losing battle.

"You-!" Rick snarled, his face red in rage and humiliation. "Forget Sakaki, I'll deal with you first! I'll teach you to disrespect me!" With that he slammed his duel disk onto his arm, activating it at the same time.

"Hard not to, you make it so easy!" Naruto shot back, his cheeky grin never leaving his face. Like Rick, he prepared his disk, slotting his deck into place as he did so. When the crimson red blade came to life, he passed his bag behind him to Gong. "You mind, big guy?"

Gong looked confused for a moment, before taking the bag from him. "Not at all. Gong only wishes for this guy to get what he deserves."

"The only thing I deserve-!"

"Is to be shut up. Seriously, you're giving us all headaches with all your shouting." Naruto mock groaned, rubbing his ear as he did so. This earned a few laughs from their audience.

As Rick roared in rage, the scene was set.  
"DUEL!" ( **Naruto LP: 4000, H: 5/Rick LP: 4000, H: 5** )

"I'll teach you a lesson, peasant! I'm going first, and to start, I'll activate the continuous spell card, Infernity Launcher!" Rick growled. "With it, I can send one Infernity monster from my hand to the grave once per turn. And I'll think that I'll use that ability right now, by sending this monster this monster to my grave."

At this point, Jack's voice rang out in Naruto's head.

 _The infernity monsters? Wow, that takes me back._

 _Huh? You know that archetype, Jack?_ Naruto thought back, curiously.

 _I do. My old friend, Kalin Kessler used them after we had fallen a bit out of contact so to speak._

 _If you're both done talking, the enemy is making another move._ Came Kaiba's sharp tone. Naruto turned his attention back to his opponent.

Rick then selected a card and placed it on his disks monster zone. "Next I summon Infernity Necromancer!"

A skeletal like demon appeared, clad in a purple robe and bore a shock of green hair from its skull. It instantly took a knee. ( **DEF: 2000)**

"Its ability makes it switch to defense mode when it's summoned. Next, I place a facedown and end my turn. Your move, blondie!" He spat the final word like an insult.  
 **(Rick H: 1)**

"You're right for once! It is my turn!" Naruto shot back at Rick, drawing as he did so. Adding the drawn card to his hand, he took a brief glance over it.

"Alright, now we get to see what this guy has." Yuya commented, making sure to keep an eye on the duel and on the people around him. He didn't trust the other LID students to not pull anything while the duel went on.

"Here's hoping he shows no mercy..." Zuzu muttered darkly, as Yuya and Gong edged away from her a bit. They honestly couldn't blame her for that reaction.

Naruto looked back at Rick.

"Ok, from my understanding, for an Infernity deck like yours to work, you need to have no cards in your hand. Personally, I like a larger hand, as it gives me more options. And I think I'll improve those options with the spell, Graceful Charity!" Naruto stated, sliding the card into his disks slot. "This allows me to-"

"I know what it does, you idiot. It allows you to draw three cards, but you have to discard two cards the grave straight after that." Rick interrupted, having cooled down a bit. "I'm an elite student of LID. I know a lot about cards."

"If by 'elite' you mean you're a snob and are rather rude, then yes, I'd agree with you." Naruto muttered, drawing his three cards. After a few seconds weighing his options, he selected two cards to discard. "And if there are no further interruptions, I'll summon a monster of my own. Come out, Red Dragon - Swift Wing!"

 **(Red Dragon - Swift Wing. Level 4. ATR: Wind. ATK: 1400. DEF: 1200. Type: Dragon/Effect**

 **Effect: If you summon this card from your hand, you can special summon another level 4 or lower monster with "Red Dragon" in its name from your hand.)**

In a flash of red, a medium sized dragon with yellow eyes, red scales and a brown underbelly appeared on the field. Judging from its looks, it was mainly built for speed, with its wings drawn, ready for takeoff. ( **ATK: 1400)**

"Red Dragon?" Zuzu questioned curiously. "I've never heard of that kind of card before."

"I don't recognize it either, but it looks cool!" Yuya remarked, eyeing Naruto's creature in slight awe.

"Gong likes it too! I can see a fire in its eyes!" Gong agreed, nodding his head at his smaller friend, still not noticing that Naruto's bag appeared to be squirming.

A distance away, Sora was also watching keenly. _This is getting interesting. I wonder what else the new guy has up his sleeve._

"What's the point of that? That card has no chance of getting past my Necromancer's defense. Typical amateur." Rick smirked.

"The point is that I'm not done." Naruto replied with a grin of his own. "When Swift Wing is summoned, his ability allows me to summon another Red Dragon monster from my hand, provided that it's level four or lower. So, I now summon Red Dragon - Fang Drake."

 **(Red Dragon - Fang Drake. Level 4. ATR: Earth. ATK: 1600. DEF: 1400. Type: Dragon/Effect**

 **Effect: if this card destroys an opponent's monster, you can draw a card from your deck.)**

Another dragon made its entrance in a small burst of red flames. It was slightly larger than the previous one, its scales were a slightly darker red, and a set of fangs could be seen emerging from out of the top of its mouth. ( **ATK: 1600)**

"I wouldn't want to run into that beast in a dark alley." Yuya muttered, with wide eyes.

"Ditto..." Zuzu trailed off. Gong remained silent, preferring to stay focused on the duel, than make comments.

"Nope. Still not getting it. Why don't you end your turn before I get bored?" Rick yawned mockingly, causing a few of his friends to laugh.

"Tired? Well this next move should wake you up. You don't seem to have noticed something that my two monsters have in common." Naruto shot back, as if he were talking to a simpleton.

"What? That they both have no way of getting past my Necromancer?" Rick shook his head. "What a moron."

"Wrong answer! The correct one is that they're both level 4." Naruto grinned evilly.

Rick suddenly blanched, Naruto's intentions becoming all too clear.

"Is he-?" Zuzu gasped in surprise, with Yuya gaping in slight disbelief.

"Gong sure thinks so!" Gong replied, equally incredulous.

"Seems you've guessed it. I now overlay my Swift Wing and Fang Drake, to build the overlay network!" Naruto said with a slight chuckle at the start.

His dragons were engulfed in red energy, before shooting themselves into a dark portal. Once they were inside, the portal erupted with power.

" **Now witness as the power of an old age rises once more in a new form, to sharpen its claws against new enemies! XYZ SUMMON! Appear, Red Dragon - Striker Claw!** "

 **(Red Dragon - Striker Claw. Rank 4. ATR: Dark. ATK: 2400. DEF: 1800. Type: Dragon/Xyz/Effect**

 **2 Level 4 "Red Dragon" monsters**

 **Effect: This card is capable of inflicting piercing damage. Once per turn, if this card attacks a monster in defense mode, by using an overlay unit, cut that monsters defense points in half.)**

Emerging from the resulting eruption was a new large dragon, with scales and claws that were red as blood. It's eyes glowed green as it stared down at its masters foe. Orbiting around it were its red overlay units. ( **ATK: 2400)**

While most of the people watching the duel were shocked, none were more so than the still hidden Sora, who narrowed his eyes at the newcomer. _Could he be an Xyzian? No, he looks too cheerful for that. So, who are you?_

 **Unknown location...**

An alarm went off in a room full of computers as people scrambled to process what was occurring.

"What's happening?" A supervisor called out.

"Sir! We've detected a rather strong surge of summon energy!" A female employee replied.

"Do we have an identification on the type of energy?"

"Processing now..." the computer techs typed away, assisting in the task however they could. "Summon energy is confirmed as Xyz."

"Now isn't that interesting." The employee's turned to see a young man with grey hair and red glasses entering the room. He was dressed in a navy sweater, white pants that ended right before his ankles, and had a long red scarf wrapped around his neck.

"Mr. President, Sir!" The supervisor straightened, to look professional in his boss's presence.

"Do we have a feed to that location?" The man asked, his tone full of authority.

"Yes, sir! Pulling up now." A male tech responded, beginning to pull up a security feed of the duel currently in progress.

"Who are the duelists participating?" He asked, looking back to the supervisor.

"Just a moment, sir. Here we are, Rick Ryouga, a student of our synchro course, and... is this some sort of joke? We have no info on the other duelist or his cards, save a name." A third tech answered in slight disbelief.

"And that name is?"

"Naruto. Naruto Atlas-Uzumaki."

The president narrowed his eyes in thought as the video feed finally came up.

"What the heck is that?!" The supervisor gasped in slight disbelief as Striker Claw was displayed on the screen.

 **Back to the duel...**

Rick gaped at him, before seemingly regaining his composure. "How do you know how to Xyz summon?! That course is only available to LID top ranking students! Answer me!" He snarled.

"Why should I? All you've done so far is insult me, and from what I can tell, make accusations based on the word of one person." Naruto remarked with a raised eyebrow. "As you can see, I have no desire or need to answer anything you may ask."

With that, Naruto turned back to his dragon. "Now that my dragon out and ready to fight, I think I'll have him attack that Necromancer of yours. And when he attacks a monster in defense mode, he can inflict piercing damage."

Striker Claw let out a roar, then began to charge forward.

"So, I'll lose 400 life points, big deal." Rick shrugged, not really caring that much.

"Oh, you'll lose a lot more than that! When Striker Claw attacks a monster in defense mode, I can use an overlay unit to cut your monsters defense points in half!" Naruto shouted with a grin.

"Wait, What!?" Rick exclaimed in shock, as Striker absorbed one of its units.

Infernity Necromancer let out a slight groan as the ability took effect. ( **DEF: 2000 - 1000)**

Striker Claw ran forward, and thrust one of its arms into the demon, its claws entering the chest and then exiting out of the creatures back as it exploded. Rick raised his arms to protect himself from the backlash, skidding back a bit as a result.

 **(Rick LP: 4000 - 2600)**

"Alright!" Yuya exclaimed, pumping his fist in the air. "Way to go, new guy!"

"Gong's mighty impressed by that." Gong remarked, nodding at Naruto in respect.

Zuzu however remained quiet, her eyes on Rick, confused as to why he seemed to be smiling.

"Not bad, I didn't expect that much damage. No matter, I'll still win." He stated, moving back to his original place.

Naruto looked confused. "What are you on about? You just lost your monster and the lead."

His opponent smirked. "Then allow my Infernity Reflector trap to balance things out." With that said, Rick's facedown flipped upwards.

"I can only use this card, by sending all the cards I have in my hand to the grave, so that when your monster destroyed mine, my trap allows me to destroy your monster and deliver 1000 points of damage to you!" The white haired boy explained, discarding the only card in his hand as he did so.

 _Oh, boy._ Naruto thought. A beam of purple light shot out of the trap, slamming into Striker Claw. The dragon roared in pain, before it detonated, throwing Naruto back a bit.

 **(Naruto LP: 4000 - 3000)**

"And as a bonus, my Necromancer returns to the field." Rick finished, smugly. As his monster returned, Naruto staggered a little before getting back upright.

"Are you ok?" Zuzu asked concerned, about to move forward to help him. While they didn't know this person, he had gone out of his way to help them.

"Never better." Naruto raised a hand to stop her. Turning back, he glared at Rick who was now leering at Zuzu again. "I place a facedown and end my turn."

 **(Naruto LP: 3000, H: 3/ Rick LP: 2600, H: 0)**

"As you must." Rick shook his head at Naruto. "I admit your Xyz monster was a surprise, but you're still no match for a duelist of my caliber." With that he drew his card. As he looked at it, his smirk widened.

"I just drew Infernity Archfiend. If I draw it, and have no other cards in my hand, I can special summon it and add another Infernity monster to my hand."

A purple skinned, four eyed demon dressed in a long blue robe with wild orange hair appeared. ( **ATK: 1800)**

A card about a third of the way down Ricks deck slid out for him to grab. "The monster I'll take is Infernity Mirage, which I will also summon."

A monster resembling an Aztec appeared, dressed in a blue poncho with yellow patterns over a long skirt. It had a pale white face, surrounded by large spiked red hair.

"Next, I'll use Mirages ability. Since I have no cards in my hand, by sacrificing him, I can resurrect two other Infernity monsters from my grave, so return, Infernity Destroyer and the tuner monster, Infernity Avenger!"

Mirage dispersed into small particles of light, only for them to reform into two new monsters. The first was a tall, dark skinned, horned demon with yellow eyes, along with grey plating over its chest, with red eye illustrations. Infernity Destroyer. **(ATK: 2300)**

The next was a small demonic cowboy, its face covered in a scarecrow mask, with two long barreled pistols clenched in its hands. Infernity Avenger. **(ATK: 0)**

Naruto went wide eyed. _A tuner monster?! Does that mean-?_

"I can see that you've figured out what I'm doing. But rather than let you speculate, I'll show you! I tune my level 1 Infernity Avenger, to my level 3 Infernity Necromancer and level 4 Infernity Archfiend!"

Avenger glowed and then vanished, replaced by a single green ring which floated above the field.

" **The dead and the living... The moment they meet at zero, the demonic dragon will be released from the cage of eternity! SYNCHRO SUMMON!"**

His three monsters now vanished completely leaving a pillar of green light behind him.

" **Come forth, Infernity Doom Dragon!** "

Appearing behind the white haired teme, (as Naruto mentally dubbed Rick) was an enormous dark blue skinned dragon, standing on its hind legs. Bearing four eyes, some strange grey growths emerging from the back of its head, as well as a second set of smaller arms underneath the regular set of large pincer clawed ones, this beast was rather intimidating to say the least. **(ATK: 3000)**

"Meet one of my strongest monsters! I'll understand if you want to run, especially considering he has enough power to wipe out all your life points in one shot!" Rick bragged, clearly pleased with himself.

Before Naruto could respond he went on further. "Now since you delayed me from my objective, and my prize, I think I'll delay your inevitable defeat, so I can see your face as all hope vanishes." He looked at Zuzu, licking his lips as he did so.

Yuya and Gong had to hold Zuzu back from attacking the bastard, but were both secretly plotting on hurting the guy later.

"Let me go, guys! I'll teach him to look at me like that!" She roared out as she struggled.

 _How on earth is she so strong?!_ Yuya thought in disbelief, as he fought hard to keep his grip on her right arm. The poor naive boy.

"You twisted piece of shit." Naruto hissed in anger.

"Sticks and stones, loser. Now, where was I? Oh, yes. Time for torture. Infernity Destroyer, Attack! Infernal blast!"

The said monster grasped its hands in front of its chest, a large purple orb manifesting between the chest and arms. It then thrust its arms outward, shooting the orb toward its target.

"And Denied!" Naruto cried, acting quickly. "I trigger the trap, Red Dragon Soul Barrier!"

 **(Red Dragon Soul Barrier. Regular Trap.**

 **Effect: if your opponent declares an attack, you can banish one "Red Dragon" monster from your grave to negate that attack and you take no damage as a result of battle until this turns end phase.)**

Just as the orb was about to hit, a red aura surrounded Naruto before it exploded.

When the smoke cleared, Rick seethed to see that Naruto's life points had not changed. "What gives?!"

"My trap gave me some protection, that's what! By banishing a Red Dragon from my grave, your attack is negated, but I also can't take any damage as a result of battle until the end phase of this turn." Naruto stated, looking a little relieved.

"Alright. He's still in this." said Yuya, having finally gotten Zuzu to calm down a little. He'd gotten a little worried when that attack had been declared.

"He sure is. Gong hopes that this guy'll win. Guys like Rick don't deserve victory." Gong rumbled.

"I'll say..." Zuzu muttered darkly, the boys taking a slight step back at her tone.

None of them had noticed that Kurama had finally managed to poke his head out of the bag, so engrossed in the duel as they were.

"Next up, a small surprise for you!" Naruto grinned as a small white slit appeared in the air in front of him. The observers were left gasping in shock, when a pair of claws emerged from within, pushing the slit outwardly to make room for a dragon to step through. It was medium sized, with vermilion scales and white armour plates on its forearms and lower legs. What caught their attention however, were its eyes. For starters, there were three of them, two in its regular eye sockets, the third on its forehead. All three seem to have no pupils, and looked like they were shimmering several different colours. **(ATK: 2100)**

"W-what? How is that dragon on your field, you cheater?" Rick hissed at his opponent, his eyes narrowed in accusation.

"It's here because of its special ability. Meet Red Dragon - Dimension-Eyes!" Was Naruto's cheeky remark.

 **(Red Dragon - Dimension-Eyes. Level 5. ATR: Light. ATK: 2100. DEF: 1600. Type: Dragon/Effect**

 **Effect: if this card is banished due to a card effect, you may special summon this card to the field.)**

"This card was the one I banished from my grave to use Soul barrier earlier." Naruto explained with a grin.

"Wait, how'd it get-? I didn't see him play that card." Yuya pointed out, scratching his head in thought. Zuzu's eyes widened.

"At the beginning, when he used Graceful Charity! It must have been one of the cards he discarded then!"

"Quite right!" Naruto nodded at that statement. "As to why it's here, when it gets banished due to a card effect, it instantly returns to the field." Naruto then looked confused as Rick started chuckling. "What's so funny, ero-teme?"

"You're about to see. While your trap may prevent you from taking battle damage, effect damage is another story. You may have tried to bolster your defenses with that dragon, but all you did was place it and your life points in my Doom Dragons line of fire."

"Gong doesn't like the sound of that." Gong remarked, looking a little anxious.

"You're not the only one." Yuya murmured softly, Zuzu nodding in agreement.

"You may not like it, but I sure do! My Infernity Doom Dragons ability activates! Once a turn, when I have no cards in my hand, so long as my dragon doesn't attack this turn, it can destroy one monster on the field." Rick remarked smugly. "And as a bonus, you take half of the destroyed monsters attack points as damage!"

 _Well, this is gonna hurt._ Naruto thought sarcastically, bracing himself.

With a snarl, Doom Dragon fired out a burst of blue fire, instantly incinerating Naruto's dragon. **(Naruto LP: 3000 - 1950)**

Naruto was thrown back due to the intensity of the blast. Landing on his back, he quickly staggered back to his feet. "I'm fine." He called out to the other observers, trying to allay their worries.

"You won't be fine next turn, since I'm now ending mine. This is your last chance to give up. Maybe now you'll learn not to stand in my way." Rick stated, giving a malicious grin as he did so.

 **(Naruto LP: 1950, H: 3/Rick LP: 2600, H: 0)**

Naruto just looked at him and began snickering. "What's so funny?" Rick growled with a glare.

"I just realized something. That dragon of yours quite big. You compensating for something?" Silence covered the field as the meaning behind Naruto's question sank in. Then, several people were on the ground laughing, Yuya and Gong looked a little green, while Zuzu let out a small giggle. Rick went red as he spluttered in rage.

"You little-! We'll just see whose laughing when my turn comes again! Make your last move. I've waited for my prize long enough."

Naruto couldn't be bothered to be angry any further, considering this nut job just kept on shrugging the rage directed at him off. Quite clearly, Rick had no remorse for his perverse actions.

 _He's right about one thing. This probably will be my last move. I only have three monsters in my hand, but I'm only capable of summoning one at the moment._ As Naruto was left to his thoughts, he failed to notice his pendant begin to swing on its chain, or that it was starting to glow brighter. He didn't notice, but Yuya did when his own pendulum started doing the same thing. "Hey, what's going-?!" He cried out in surprise.

"My turn!" Yuya's musing was interrupted as Naruto drew back his right arm to his right side, placing his left hand on the top card of his deck. "DRAW!" He drew the card, nearly bringing his card to his far left in the process, as well as causing a small shockwave from the speed of his draw.

The glowing got brighter, Naruto finally realizing it, as most turned their eyes away from the intensity. Finally, it died down, but once it had, Naruto was left looking at his cards in surprise.

"Are you going to make a move or are you just going to give up?" Rick mocked, though secretly he was trying to figure out what the heck that glow was.

Naruto looked at him with a blank expression, before one of determination filled his face. "Why don't you give up on trying to make me give up?" He retorted dryly.

He then showed the card he just drew. "I activate the spell, Red Dragon Resources!

 **(Red Dragon Resources. Type: Regular Spell**

 **Effect: Banish one Red Dragon Monster in your grave. For every two levels that monster had, draw one card from your deck.)**

"Thanks to this spell, I can banish a Red Dragon in my grave, to draw another card for every two levels that monster had. And I think I'll banish my Dimension-Eyes again." Naruto explained, with a small smile.

"But that'll just-!" Rick gaped in slight realization.

"Yep! It'll come right back to my field! And since it was a level five monster, my spell lets me draw another two cards." Naruto did so as his dragon returned from the void again. **(Naruto H: 5)**

"And now it's time to tip the scales back in my favour." Naruto gave his foxy grin. "In this case, I mean it quite literally! Because with the scale one Red Dragon - Tinyvern, and scale ten Red Dragon - Gigadrake, I set the pendulum scale!" With that he slammed a pair of cards on the opposite sides of his disk, causing the word "Pendulum" to flash across the disks blade, each letter being a different colour.

 **(Red Dragon - Tinyvern. Level 2. Scale 1. ATR: Dark. ATK: 800. DEF: 600. Type: Dragon/Pendulum/Effect**

 **Pendulum Effect: once per turn, you can select one Red Dragon monster on your field. Decrease its level by one.**

 **Effect: This card can attack directly. After this card successfully attacks, change this card to defense mode.**

 **Red Dragon - Gigadrake. Level 7. Scale 10. ATR: Dark. ATK: 2600. DEF: 1800. Type: Dragon/Pendulum/Effect**

 **Pendulum Effect: Once per turn, you can select one Red Dragon monster on your field. Increase its level by one.**

 **Effect: If this card is on the field, your opponent cannot attack other Red Dragon monsters other than this card.)**

As soon as he said those words, Yuya's mouth went the way of the penny, as it dropped in realization. "No way..." he whispered, shaking his head in denial. "He isn't..."

"He is!" Zuzu gasped, as Gong was simply staring wide eyed at this new duelist.

Two light blue pillars erupted from the ground on either side of Naruto. Contained in the one on the left, was a small red wyvern with green eyes, it's scales shimmering in the light. Underneath it was a gothic number one. The other pillar contained a much larger, scarlet scaled, bipedal beast with yellow eyes, it's clawed arms crossed in front of it as it snarled. Beneath it formed a gothic ten.

In between the pillars, a large holographic version of Naruto's pendant could be seen, slightly drifting to and fro.

"What are you-?" Rick gaped in confusion, not expecting this occurrence at all.

"The preparations are complete! Time for my pendant to swing! With the scale set like this, I can summon monsters level two through nine, all at the same time!" Naruto exclaimed, his grin never leaving his face. With that, the pendant began swinging in wider arcs.

"My dragons are ready! To rip into battle!" With that, a circular portal opened up near the pendant, out of which two streams of light were spat out.

"First up, is Red Dragon - Twin-Tone Pendulum Dragon!"

 **(Red Dragon - Twin-Tone Pendulum Dragon. Level 7. Scale 4. ATR: Fire. ATK: 2500. DEF: 2000. Type: Dragon/Pendulum/Effect.**

 **Pendulum Effect: As long as this card remains in the pendulum scale, when a Red Dragon monster destroys a monster as a result of battle, it gains 500 attack points.**

 **Effect: If this card destroys a monster as a result of battle, inflict half of the destroyed monsters attack or defense points (whichever is higher) as damage to the opponent.)**

Emerging from the first stream of light was a dragon that resembled Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon, but it was different. For starters, it's eyes were both green. The scales along the top of the dragon were a darker shade of red, that quickly changed to a green scaled underbelly. Also, the horns and spires growing from its sides were a murky black.

"And bringing up the rear, is Red Dragon - Draco Resonator!"

 **(Red Dragon - Draco Resonator. Level 3. Scale 2. ATR: Dark. ATK: 1300. DEF: 300. Type: Dragon/Pendulum/Tuner/Effect.**

 **Pendulum Effect: Once per turn, if a pendulum monster would be destroyed, negate the destruction.**

 **Effect: Once per turn, this card cannot be destroyed as a result of battle.)**

The second creature to appear was a smaller one. It had a red bone helm on its head, covering most of its face, save its red eyes and a creepy grin, small red wings protruding from under the torn black robes that covered its lower body. Clutched in its clawed hands were a tuning fork, and a rod of equal length.

"He did it." Yuya stated in slight defeat. _How!? I thought Pendulum summoning was something that was unique to me, but this guy can now do it too? And, that card, it looks just like my Odd-Eyes! What's going on?_

"He can Pendulum summon? Who is this guy?" Zuzu asked.

"Gong doesn't know. But he does know that this guy will have some questions to answer later." Gong muttered with narrowed eyes.

"And trust me, you'll get some answers." Naruto called to him. _As soon as I figure out how I did that myself..._

 **Unknown location...**

"Did he just-?" The supervisor asked in utter disbelief. Most of the room had gone quiet when Naruto had pendulum summoned.

"Indeed, he did." The young president responded calmly, pushing his glasses up as he did so. _I was under the impression that only Yuya Sakaki could pendulum summon at this point._

"Sir, that-!"

"Not now. Record all summon energy spikes that occur during this duel, and inform me of their energy readings after the duel is over."

"Yes, Sir."

With that, the president turned back to the duel. _Now what else do you have in store for us, I wonder?_

 **Duel site...**

Rick was left with a look of anger. "So, you learned Sakaki's pendulum summon method, big deal. None of them can get past my Doom Dragon." He smirked mockingly as he finished speaking.

"Who said I was done? I'm about to kick this duel into overdrive!" Naruto shot back.

"Oh, and how pray tell do you intend to do that?"

"With this guy." Naruto pointed at Draco Resonator. "Draco Resonator. My Pendulum tuner monster."

 _Pendulum tuner?!_ Was the shocked thought of all the people watching. Even Sora watching from afar went wide eyed.

"You can't mean-!" Rick gasped in shock, unknowingly voicing all their thoughts.

"Oh, I do!" Naruto smirked triumphantly. "I tune my level 3 Draco Resonator, with my Level 5 Dimension-Eyes!"

With a mad cackle, Draco Resonator clanged the rod against its tuning fork, dispersing into three green rings. As Dimension Eyes entered them, Naruto began another chant. A chant he had been longing to perform for so long.

" **The ruler's heartbeats will now file through here! Take witness to its creation-shaking power! SYNCRO SUMMON! My very soul, Red Dragon Archfiend!** "

A pillar of fire erupted from the ground behind Naruto. Inside, two red eyes snapped open, glaring at Rick and his monsters with rage. The fire dispersed, revealing Naruto's ace monster in all his glory. **(ATK: 3000)**

 _It's good to fight with you again, old friend._ Naruto thought, a little caught up in his emotions. Naruto received no verbal answer, but rather felt a feeling of content from the dragon; a feeling of belonging. That his proper place was by his masters side.

Their shock wearing off, most of the audience were looking at the new dragon in awe. Yuya and Zuzu in particular. It was hard to explain, but they could somehow feel the power the dragon was releasing. There was also a sense of familiarity, like they should somehow know that card. Gong on the other hand was more speechless at the fact that Naruto could perform three extra deck summon methods.

Sora was so surprised that he had almost dropped his lollipop. _Ok, now I really want to know who this guy is!_

Rick stammered for a few seconds before shaking his head. "Not bad. But the only thing you succeeded at was creating a tie. You just summoned that behemoth to kill it in a double knockout." He stated calmly, thinking he had Naruto's plan figured out.

"Wrong again, as usual." Naruto shook his head. "I didn't bring him out for mutually assured destruction, I brought him out, to clear the path for me to win. And I will begin walking that path, by activating a trap from my hand!"

"That's against the rules!" Rick cried in disbelief.

"Not in this case. If I have a level five or higher monster with 'Red Dragon' in its name, I can activate the trap, Red Dragon Aggressive Roar from my hand with no problems."

 **(Red Dragon Aggressive Roar. Type: Regular trap.**

 **Effect: If you control a level 5 or higher monster with "Red Dragon" in its name, you can activate this trap from your hand. All monsters your opponent controls are switched to defense mode.)**

Red Dragon Archfiend drew back its head and let out a monstrous roar. It was so powerful that Rick's hair flew out of shape, and most had to cover their ears to try and block the sound out.

"T-that t-things got quite the set of lungs on it." Zuzu gritted out, hands on her ears.

"No kidding." Yuya ground out, before turning to his friend. "You ok, Gong?"

"WHAT'S THAT? GONG CAN'T HEAR YOU!" Since Gong had been carrying Naruto's bag, he hadn't been able to protect his ears properly. Poor Kurama wasn't much better, his hearing being much more sensitive than a human.

 _ **I'm going to have words with that frickin' oversized lizard after this!**_ He thought as he whimpered in slight pain.

Eventually everyone recovered their hearing. Rick snarled.

"You trying to win by deafening me?!"

"Nope, but that roar wasn't just for show." Naruto countered, wincing a little as his ears still ached a bit. "You may want to take a look at your monsters."

"What are you talking about, they're just-!" Rick broke off, unable to speak as he saw his Infernity Destroyer on its knees, cowering in defense mode. **(DEF: 1000)**

His Dragon, was in the same boat, trembling all over. **(DEF: 2400)**

"What happened to them?" Rick was gaping like a fish almost.

"My traps effect. Sure, it may be a bit on the loud side (this caused a few observers to cry out indignantly at the 'bit' comment), but it sure is useful. Your monsters felt a little intimidated by it, and switched to defense mode in a way to not draw attention to themselves." Naruto explained with a sly grin.

Rick shook his surprise off his face. "Doesn't matter. Even if you destroy both my monsters, I'll still have life points left."

 _Ehhhh,... not really._ Naruto thought, as he assessed the field, and his grave. _There is a way for me to win right here._

"You may think that, but my Dragons have other plans." He remarked, a look of certainty on his face. "And with that, it's time to fight! Red Dragon Archfiend, attack Infernity Doom Dragon! Go, Absolute Power Force!"

Heeding his masters orders instantly, Archfiend drew back its left hand and shot forward, said hand igniting in flames as it did so. Arriving at its target, its hand came forward, delivering a blazing palm strike to the Doom Dragon's chest. In microseconds, the beast was set ablaze, crying out in agony before it shattered. The fire didn't stop there, though. It spread across the field, burning Infernity Destroyer to ash before it could scream.

"What just happened!?" Rick gasped. "You only attacked one monster!"

"My Red Dragon Archfiend's ability happened. When it attacks a monster in defense mode, all monsters you control in defense mode get sent on a one way trip to the graveyard!" Was the cheeky explanation.

"N-no way!" Rick started sweating under his collar.

"And I'm not done. Next, I use the ability of Red Dragon - Shrapnel Soul from my graveyard. This was the other card I sent there with Graceful Charity."

 **(Red Dragon - Shrapnel Soul. Level 3. ATR: Dark. ATK: 1000. DEF: 1600. Type: Dragon/Effect**

 **Effect: If a monster is destroyed on your opponents field by a card effect, you can banish this card from your graveyard to inflict 500 points of damage to your opponents life points.)**

"By banishing it from my grave, I can deliver 500 points of damage to you, since you lost a monster due to a card effect."

With that a red orb flew out of Naruto's graveyard, its aura briefly taking the shape of a small dragon, before it moved to hover right in front of Rick. With a bang, it detonated, sending small pieces of shrapnel at him.

 **(Rick LP: 2600 - 2100)**

With a groan, Rick lowered his arms, having crossed them over his face when the bomb went off. Then he noticed the other dragon on Naruto's field that had yet to attack. With him having nothing to defend himself.

"Oh, crap." He mouthed. At that Naruto nodded.

"This duel is over. Twin-Tone Pendulum Dragon, attack him directly."

The aforementioned dragon drew back its head and let loose a stream of twin coloured fire. Slamming into Rick, it burned hard and hot, forcing him to his knees. **(Rick LP: 2100 - 0)**

 **Naruto Wins!**

"Alright! He won!" Zuzu cried happily, but soon changed her tune.

Rick looked at Naruto with hate as he got up. "I may have lost our duel, but I'm not leaving here empty handed. GET THEM!" He roared out, pointing at Yuya, Zuzu and Gong.

Before anyone could move, two things happened. First, the two guys behind Rick got beaned in the head by a lollipop wielded by Sora. Second, Kurama leaped out of the bag, growling at the group on the other side.

"Hey, teacher!" Sora waved at Yuya. "Need a hand?"

Yuya had never been so glad to see the little pest. In fact, it was quite possibly the only time he'd been happy to see him so far.

"Now, we can do this either one of two ways." Naruto stated calmly, taking off his disk as he did so. "One, we all go on our ways, and forget this incident ever took place. Or we could go with option two, where you continue being an ero-baka, and keep on harassing us. And with a few of your guys already down, and with my friend, Kurama, on guard, let's just say it most likely won't end well for you."

For a moment silence filled the street the students occupied, with neither side backing down. Suddenly, one of the LID students turned and ran. Like a leak in a dam, the others also fled, leaving Rick alone.

"Where are you going?! Get back, -urk!" Rick attempted to call out, only to have been grabbed by the neck by a fast moving Naruto. With a small smirk, he turned to Zuzu, before throwing the white haired idiot at her feet. "He's all yours."

Zuzu blinked for a moment, before a sinister smirk appeared on her face. Her paper fan was all of a sudden in her hands, as she then proceeded to give the perv a rather harsh beating.

Yuya turned to Gong. "Is it wrong that I felt he deserved this?"

"Gong feels the same. But perhaps we should make sure she doesn't go too far?"

 **Unknown location...**

 _Impressive. Most impressive._ Were the thoughts of one Declan Akaba, president of the Leo Corporation, and LID.

"What were your findings about his summon energy?" He asked quickly, looking to find out more about this new duelist.

"Well Sir," one tech began ", his xyz and pendulum summon energy outputs were near equal, with xyz only beating pendulum by a few points."

Declan turned away from the main screen, his eyes narrowed. "And his synchro energy?"

At this, a female employee responded. "Sir, his Synchro energy was easily the greatest on record. It was nearly off the charts."

 _Synchro, xyz and pendulum. It wouldn't surprise me if he could also use fusion. Even more intriguing is that he has shown that pendulum summoning has the potential to evolve, if that tuner monster was anything to go by. I think we've found a possible lancer. Now the only question is, who are you? Are you a potential ally or a potential threat?_ The young president stared at the screen, a picture of Naruto's face emblazoned on it. Deciding to think on it later, he turned to call for his assistant, Claude.

"Claude, ensure that Mr. Ryouga is picked up and that he and the students involved forget this incident. And then have him sent to Dr. Unohana for a mental assessment. The last thing we need is him creating more problems for us." Pushing his glasses up, he continued. "And tell Sylvio that it would be in his best interest to not get any more students involved in this. I have no patience for his petty vendetta. If he wants to pursue it, have him do it on his own."

"Yes, Mr. President."

 **A few minutes later...**

"Ahhh. That felt good." Zuzu remarked with a grin, having finally dealt out a bit of justice. Giving the fool a few kicks in the nads may have been a bit much, but she was rightfully angry.

"Thanks for the help." Yuya said, turning to Naruto. "Sorry that you had to get involved with our mess."

"Ah, it's no problem. I can't stand people like him." Naruto replied, before looking a little sheepish. "I'm sorry, but with all that was going on, I never got your names." He scratched the back of his neck as he said this.

"Oh, that's ok. With what happened we never really had a chance to introduce ourselves. I'm Zuzu Boyle." Zuzu gave the new boy a warm smile.

"Yuya Sakaki. Nice to meet you." Yuya held out his hand to shake, which Naruto accepted.

"Gong Strong. And Gong would be proud to call you a friend." The kid was alright in Gong's book, having stuck around to help people that he didn't even know.

"The names Sora." Sora gave a mischievous grin. "Guess I now have two potential teachers, huh?"

While Yuya hung his head in annoyance, Naruto wasn't sure what to make of that comment.

"I see... Anyway, I'm Naruto. Naruto Atlas-Uzumaki. Bit of a mouthful, I know." He replied, before gesturing to the small bijuu now perched on his shoulder. "And this here is Kurama." They'd by now already seen Kurama, so there was little point in hiding him from them now. Though secretly, Naruto mentally informed the fox to communicate with him via the mind link when around people from now on.

"Yeah... please don't take offence," Zuzu started, "but what is he?" She was quite certain foxes were only meant to have _one_ tail, not nine, not to mention that his ears did not look like a regular fox. Facts that the people with her were only just noticing now.

 _Sorry, partner, but I don't think they'd believe the truth._ Naruto thought to his companion. "To be honest, I don't really know the answer myself. I found him caught in a hunting trap a few months back. He's been with me ever since." He lied, and rather convincingly at that. At that, most of the groups eyes softened, while Kurama looked a tad annoyed at the attention he was receiving, or rather the pity behind it.

"So, you new to town?" Yuya asked, trying to change the subject. "Haven't seen you around before."

"Just got into town today. Been looking for a place to stay actually." Came the calm reply. It was true, considering that was a problem he'd been trying to solve before getting involved with this debacle.

"We'd be happy to help you out if you need somewhere to stay." Said Zuzu, wanting to help the blonde out.

"Don't you have any friends or family to help with that?" Yuya asked. While he was all for helping the new guy out, he wasn't so eager to have another potential Sora on his hands.

Naruto's look turned a little melancholy. "Wish I did. I've been all on my own for most of my life."

Next thing he knew, Yuya was struck by Zuzu's paper fan. "Yuya! Have a bit more tact!"

"Ouch! Zuzu, how was I supposed to know?!" Yuya cried, holding his throbbing head, while Gong, Sora and secretly Kurama chuckled at Yuya's slight misfortune.

"It's alright." Naruto stated calmly. "I'm used to it."

Yuya decided to bite the bullet and make the offer. "How about you stay at my place for a bit? We have plenty of room." _And it'll give me a chance to ask about his pendulum cards._

"Are you sure?" Naruto asked, looking a little nervous as he scratched his cheek. "I wouldn't want to impose..."

"No, no. It's the least we could do." Zuzu chastised, before beckoning him to follow them. "Come on."

Naruto blinked in slight intrigue. "You mind telling me where we're going?"

"Oh, we're going to the You show Duel school." Sora piped up, eager to help his new 'teacher'.

"Duel school? Forgive me, but I used to live in a bit of an isolated area. You mind explaining what that is? I know that Baka I beat mentioned he attended something similar, I think?" Naruto looked a little curious at that. Normally, he'd ignore any statement that contained the word school, but this caught his attention. The others went a little wide eyed at that.

"Ok..." Yuya said in slight confusion. How had the new kid not heard of what a duel school was? Shaking his head, he continued. "It's a place where we can train to be better duelists. We learn about several things about dueling in the process."

"Sounds like my kinda school." Naruto grinned. "Lead on then, dattebayo!" As soon as he said that, he slumped a little in depression. "... I still have it?" He muttered weakly.

The group looked at him for a moment before shrugging a bit at his mannerisms. Who were they to judge? All save Kurama, who was mentally laughing his tails off. _**Ahh, karma. You finally struck.**_

Naruto quickly got over his low feeling. "Sorry, kinda thought I'd got rid of that tic. Shall we?" He gestured to the road ahead of them.

"Sure." Zuzu smiled, before moving down the street. "Keep up."

With that, the gathering of friends, plus some new ones began to move after her.

 _Well, looks like this life is going to be interesting, that's for sure._ Naruto thought, smiling as he went. _I can only imagine what else it has in store for me._

 **Chapter End.**

 **Author Notes:**

 **Now, a few of you may be wondering why Naruto is acting a little OC here. The answer is that he is partially being influenced by his first life's personality, Menma Atlas. While at the core, he held the same ideals as his shinobi life, Menma himself was different to Naruto in a few ways. For starters, he isn't as loud or attention starved as Naruto was, as well as being more intelligent. He's still as dense as a brick when it comes to girls crushing on him though.**

 **Anyway, Naruto is now situated in the standard dimension, having met Yuya, Zuzu, Gong and Sora. Declan is now watching him, but the question is, why did Naruto find Yuya and Zuzu so familiar?**

 **Did anyone notice the slight Bleach reference I put in?**

 **I'll do my footnotes, before I clarify something.**

 **1\. The bag in question is similar to the one Jaden Yuki has at the end of the Japanese season 4 of GX, albeit with no extra outside pocket, and is completely black. To be honest, I have no clue why they didn't do a dub version of that season, it's pretty cool, I think.**

 **2\. I'm writing this fic primarily on the assumption that those who read it already know the rules of the game. With that in mind, I have no desire to repeat facts that you readers most likely already know.**

 **3\. I'm probably stretching things a bit here, but that's fanfiction for you. I'm saying that here, Sora has been pestering Yuya to be his teacher over the course of a few days, instead of just one.**

 **Now the thing I should have made clear. This is a harem story, much like this stories source of inspiration. As I think most can guess, Celina is going to be Naruto's main pairing, but there will be others. Additionally, Zarc is** _ **not**_ **going to be the only antagonist in this fic. As to who that is... well, I'll leave that to your imaginations, since I'm not telling!**

 **Anyhow... kindly drop a review. I'll gladly accept constructive criticism, but not flaming. FLAMERS WILL BE FED TO THE RED DRAGONS!**


	3. Fight the Frightfurs!

**Hey guys, your friendly neighbourhood Malicious hero is back, with a new chapter of Return of the Red Dragon Emperor. I'm really sorry, guys, I don't have an excuse for why I took so long to update this thing. (Hides behind monitor from angry reviewers)**

 **(Peeks back out) You still here? Well, then on with the story, hope you like it!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own any franchise that is used or mentioned in this fanfic.**

Normal speech/ _Normal thoughts_

 **Bijuu speech/** _ **thoughts**_

 **Spirit speech/** _ **thoughts**_

Chapter 2: Fight the Frightfurs!

 **Spirit World**

Celebrative roars could be heard throughout Red Dragon Canyon, as many of the dragons emerged from the caves littered throughout the location. Like their leader, the Red Dragons were truly rejoicing the fact that their master had finally returned to reclaim them. Everywhere you looked, dragons, young and old, were coming out to spread the word, and breathe a collective sigh of joyful relief at his survival.

Away from the festivities, the leader of the Red Dragons, Red Dragon Archfiend himself, was sitting on a rock, not far from his den, watching over the canyon and the beings he ruled over.

" **Why are you not joining the celebrations, my lord?** " Came a medium pitched voice from behind him.

Archfiend turned to gaze at the dragon whom had interrupted his previous musing.

" **My thoughts and dreams of late have me troubled, Dimension-Eyes.** " He rumbled back, returning to look at his domain.

" **My lord, forgive me, but surely this is not the time for such things.** " The younger dragon moved, so that it stood beside its leader. Archfiend sighed.

" **Perhaps.** " Shaking its head to rid itself of his thoughts, Archfiend stood up, and accompanied the Drake back down toward the canyon. " **How is Twin-Tone handling his recent evolution? I can't imagine it was easy. For him and the others.** "

Dimension-Eyes nodded at that. " **His siblings are keeping an eye on him. Changing as he did took a bit of a toll on him. His brother remains hopeful for a quick recovery, though the sisters are less optimistic about that.** "

" **That was to be expected. They have always been close, though Vi would never admit it.** " Archfiend commented, before asking " **Aside from him, how many of our brethren were affected similarly?** "

" **That, we aren't certain of. Several Red Dragons have been reported to have changed. We're still getting them.** "

Archfiend placed a clawed hand on his chin, rubbing it in thought for a moment. Then he shook his head.

" **We'll deal with that later. Now, what news on the search for the fragments? If the masters absence gave us one more thing, it was time to try and locate them.** "

" **Well, the good news is that we have finally tracked them down.** " Dimension-Eyes responded, before looking annoyed. " **Unfortunately, one of the three has already awakened and is already serving a master. Currently in the synchro dimension, I believe.** "

Archfiend narrowed his eyes at that. " **Disappointing, but that was something we had considered as a possibility. What of the other two?** "

" **There we have better news. One is here in the spirit world, but it is still dormant. It will not be needed to be looked at for some time.** " Was the placating reply. While his lord hid it well, the dragon could tell that Archfiend was furious at what had befallen the first fragment.

" **And the last?** "

" **The last one was a surprise. It's in Standard.** " That stopped Archfiend short.

" **WHAT?!** " He growled at his subordinate in slight shock. " **Do we know its status or location?!** "

" **It hasn't awakened yet, but from what we've found, it isn't far off from doing so. As for where it is, we managed to pinpoint it in the downtown area of Paradise City. In a junkyard of all places.** "

" **Have Swift Wing keep an eye on it. If it begins to awaken, I will inform Master Naruto so that he can try to gain its allegiance. The last thing we need is an upstart getting a hold of one of those fragments.** " Archfiend ordered, his tone full of authority.

" **Yes, My lord!** " With that, Dimension-Eyes sped off, dodging through the various groups of dragons.

Once again left alone, Archfiend sat on a tree stump, as he watched a group of hatchlings have a small play fight. He chuckled, remembering another group of young dragons doing a similar activity, with himself and a white dragon often being the instigators, as three others looked on. Those were much simpler times. His amusement dying down, his gaze turned skyward, watching as the sun slowly descended into the distance.

 _ **I have often wondered why you chose me to watch over your incarnation. Most of us assumed that you would give that task to Stardust. He always was your favourite.**_ He thought, contemplating his current position. _**I suppose it doesn't really matter though. I will believe in you and I will fulfil this task as best I can. He will not be harmed like that again. Not while I still draw breath.**_

Looking down a bit, he gazed at the sun as it slowly dipped toward the horizon. _**I just hope he doesn't overreact when he learns that he hasn't been gone for as long as he no doubt thinks he has.**_

 **Back to Naruto...**

The group of five were continuing their way to the You Show Duel School. However, one of them was hanging back, deep in thought, with his goggles covering his eyes: Yuya.

Now that the excitement of Naruto's victory had worn off, he was back to the conundrum of how Naruto was able to pendulum summon. Whilst his duel with Sylvio had proved that anyone could pendulum summon, provided they had pendulum cards, he had not expected someone else with pendulum cards to appear right out of the blue. And that both disturbed and upset him.

 _How is this possible? Sylvio was only able to pendulum summon when he stole my cards. So where did this guy's pendulum cards come from? And there's also that my pendulum glowed like it did in my match with Sledgehammer. I just don't get it. It was supposed to be something just for me!_

Yuya continued walking as he thought, his eyes scrunched together and a hand on his chin as he walked. His thoughts were interrupted however, when he heard Sora piping up. Looking forward, he saw Sora questioning Naruto. Naruto appeared to be getting annoyed at the small guy though. Ever since they had set off, Sora had started calling Naruto 'teacher' as opposed to Yuya's 'coach".

 _Well, at least I'm not the only guy he'll pester now._

"So, teach, how do you do a pendulum summon?" Sora queried, chewing on his lolly as he did so. Naruto narrowed his eyes at the kid. He'd been asking that question a lot during their little trip. Then he gave a sneaky grin.

"Why don't you go bug Yuya some more? He has more experience in it than me, after all."

"Already tried that. I had no luck, so I'm asking you instead." Sora replied easily, a cheeky grin on his face. Naruto pouted at the fact that his attempt to get Sora off his back failed, much to Zuzu's amusement, if her giggles were anything to go by. Kurama was also enjoying himself, now being held in Zuzu's arms. She was scratching him behind the ears. And he was in a relative state of bliss.

 _ **Ohhh, by the sage, that feels good...**_

"Ah, we're here." Zuzu said, calming down a bit.

Naruto looked at their destination. It was not a building that he would have pictured as being a duel school; hell, it was one of the strangest places he had ever laid eyes on. It looked as if someone had stacked a heap of kids building blocks together in a rather bizarre fashion, and then cobbled a few pieces of playground equipment onto it.

 _Then again,_ he thought. _I shouldn't judge it based on its appearance. Look underneath the underneath, after all._

Entering the building, the group soon encountered 3 children sitting around a small table in the lobby area, as if waiting for something. The first was a boy of average height with blue hair, wearing short khaki pants, and a dark brown vest over a white shirt.

Next was a girl around the same age with golden eyes and read hair. She was wearing a multi coloured headband, a short cream t-shirt over a red and pink striped long sleeve top, a red skirt and black stockings.

Last was a chubby boy, also around the same age, dressed in a red t-shirt under a yellow hoodie, with a pair of orange overalls over them.

Noticing the new arrivals, the kids got up and ran over. "Hey, guys!" The first boy said, looking a little worried. "What took you so long?"

"School finished ages ago. We were worried." The girl added, relief evident on her face.

"Sorry, had a little run in with some LID jerks." Zuzu replied, trying to ease their worries, passing Kurama back to Naruto as she did so.

"Oh, no! Not them again!" The chubby boy groaned in an accent that Naruto couldn't quite place, before noticing an extra person with them. "Err… Who are you?"

"Mm? Oh, sorry, I'm Naruto. Naruto Atlas-Uzumaki." Naruto responded, having been taking in the interior when the boy had asked him.

"And Gong is sure glad he's here!" Said Gong, smiling as he patted the red dragon duellist on the back. "He was the one who got us out of that mess."

"For real?" The first boy asked. "Thanks a lot! I'm Tate." He held his hand out to shake, which Naruto accepted.

"Nice to meet ya, Tate. And who are these two?" He inquired, turning to the other kids.

"I'm Allie!" The girl introduced with an infectious smile.

"And my name is Fredrick!" The chubby boy added with a nod.

"And get this!" Sora cut in with a cheeky grin. "This guy can use pendulum summoning, like Yuya!"

That bit of information stopped the kids short. "Whoa! Really?" Tate asked in slight awe.

"Yes, he can." Yuya stated solemnly, still a little down at that little particular fact.

"Don't forget he can use XYZ and Synchro too." Zuzu pointed out with a smile.

"Wow! That sounds so cool." Allie said, looking at Naruto with sparkles in her eyes, as the other two looked at him in slight awe.

 _These kids aren't so bad. Kinda reminds me a bit of Konohamaru and his pals._ Naruto thought with a grin. He was then interrupted by another voice.

"What's all the commotion?"

Entering from another room was a man with brown and orange spiked hair, dressed in a red and orange jumpsuit and blue shirt, both sporting flame patterns. Around his neck was a white whistle.

Zuzu approached the new man, whom from what Naruto gathered was her father, and began explaining what had happened earlier that afternoon. After she had finished, the man turned to Naruto.

"My boy, you have my upmost thanks for helping my daughter and her friends. My name is Skip Boyle, and I am the principal of this duel school." He stated, shaking Naruto's hand vigorously as he did so.

Like someone had flicked a switch, the man's entire demeanour changed. Suddenly he was up in Naruto's face. "Are you interested in enrolling as a student?" He asked, rather enthusiastically.

Naruto sweat dropped as Zuzu whacked her father in the head with her fan. "Dad, not so close! You'll scare him off!"

 _Ooohhh Kaaayyy... a girl with Sakura's temper, and her father being as enthusiastic as Might Gai. What did I just walk into?_

 _ **Search me, Brat. But damned if it isn't mildly entertaining.**_ Kurama thought back, now sitting on the floor next to Naruto.

 _True._

Skip, having recovered from the blow, got up and started speaking again. "So, are you interested?"

Naruto looked down a bit. "I must admit, I am a little, but I don't have any way to pay for it at the moment..."

"Never mind that!" Skip replied. "In repayment for your help earlier, consider you tuition fees paid in full. You don't need to pay a thing for this."

Naruto looked surprised, as did those around him. Zuzu would normally have chastised her father for doing something like this, considering that the school needed money to keep itself open. However, she knew that her father was always one to repay his debts and could be rather stubborn on certain matters. There would be little she could do to stop him, aside from giving him another appointment with her fan, but deep down, she felt Naruto deserved this.

Naruto looked around at the rooms other occupants, all of whom were looking at him expectantly. "Well," he chuckled. ", with so many people looking at me like that, how could I say no?"

 _ **Quite easily.**_

 _Shut it, Kurama._

 _ **And make life easy for you? Never.**_

"Wonderful!" Skip grinned. "If you'll just wait here, I'll go get the forms you need to sign." With that, he moved back into the office. As he did so, Naruto looked between him and Zuzu.

 _Whomever said the apple never fell far from the tree clearly never met this family! Either that or she takes after her mother._

The kids then started talking to Sora and Zuzu, with Yuya leaning against the wall, deep in thought. The young duel-tainer was still thinking about the new pendulum summoner. He just didn't understand how it happened. If he didn't get answers shortly, he'd more than likely erupt.

Naruto narrowed his eyes at the young duellist. He could easily tell that something was bothering the kid, and it was time to see if his new friend needed some help.

"Something on your mind, Yuya?" He asked, moving over to the boy.

Yuya gave a slight start, having not noticed Naruto approaching him. "Y-Yeah, you could say that..." he drifted off slightly.

"Well?" Naruto gazed at him curiously.

Yuya gave a deep sigh, realising that he probably shouldn't hide this from him, especially considering that he played a part in his current conundrum. As he did so his irritation over said conundrum began to flare up again.

"How did you get those pendulum cards!?" He cried out, grabbing Naruto by the shoulders and shaking him. His sudden shouting drew the startled attention of the others. Kurama was torn between laughing at Naruto's situation, or growling at Yuya for putting him in that position. Everyone else just looked on, worried, and uncertain on what to do.

Zuzu moved to stop Yuya, but Gong put a hand on her shoulder, shaking his head.

"Gong thinks this is something they need to sort out on their own." he told her softly.

Yuya continued to shout, until finally-

SMACK!

Yuya was sent tumbling to the floor by the sudden action, a red handprint on his cheek. Clutching it, he looked up at Naruto, who seemed a tad peeved by his recent actions.

"You calm now? We can talk this out, or are you going to get all whiney and depressed like earlier?" _Good thing I didn't put any chakra in that._

 _ **I'll say. You'd probably have taken his head off if you had. Or at least broken his jaw.**_

Yuya slowly got to his feet, still holding his sore cheek. "Y-y-yeah."

"Good. Now can you kindly tell me what your deal is?!"

By this point the others were looking away, seeing that this situation was (hopefully) about to be resolved.

Yuya took his hand away from his head and then started to explain himself. That he, until Naruto appeared, had been the only one that could pendulum summon, as he had created the method. He then went on about the incident with Sylvio stealing two of his pendulum cards and placing Zuzu and the kids in danger.

After he had done so, Naruto just looked at him, absorbing it all. Then he spoke.

"I guess I can understand why you're upset, but there's just one thing."

Yuya blinked, uncertain of what Naruto was thinking.

"Did you honestly think that you would be the only person that could pendulum summon during this lifetime?"

Yuya's first thought would be to answer yes, that the power had been unique to him. He was going to say just that, when he remembered Sylvio pendulum summoning with his cards again. And then of course Naruto doing it during his earlier duel. Seeing the goggle-wearing teen contemplating his answer, Naruto went on.

"Someone was bound to figure out how pendulum summoning worked eventually. And after that happened, they could have made their own pendulum cards."

Yuya's throat went dry, having obviously not considered that as a possibility. Naruto's look went a tad stern.

"Eventually, pendulum cards would be mass produced for the masses." He continued, before his gaze softened slightly, seeing how uncomfortable Yuya was getting.

"There is a bright side though." This snapped Yuya from his negative emotions.

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Think about it. Every so often, someone introduces something revolutionary to the world of duelling. Like you did when you first pendulum summoned."

Yuya had a few question marks floating over his head, wondering where Naruto was going with this.

"You opened the door to something new. You made history with that and now have a chance to lead the next generation of duelling, as they will look to you for inspiration."

Yuya put a hand on his chin, looking slightly contemplative for a few moments, before he gave a small smile and nodded.

"I never really thought of it like that. Thanks, Naruto."

"Your welcome. Now, shall we see what that lot are talking about over there?" Naruto grinned, gesturing to the rest of the group. Yuya gazed at his friends for a moment before returning his attention to the blonde.

"Sure, but you still didn't answer my question. Where _did_ you get those cards?"

Pausing, Naruto looked a little sheepish as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"Would you believe me if I told you I don't know?"

"Eh?" Yuya's confusion returned.

Naruto pulled his deck out of its box attached to his belt, then fanned a few of the cards out for the other boy to see. From what Yuya could tell, there were a few pendulum monsters there, alongside some regular effect monsters.

"Before the duel began, these were all regular monsters. You recall that weird glow?" Letting that sink in, Naruto pulled out his pendant from under his shirt to show Yuya. "It was this. After the glow died down, some of them had changed into what you see now."

Yuya was thrown through a loop, feeling a massive sense of Déjà vu. _That's exactly what happened to me during my match with Sledgehammer. The heck? I've heard of coincidences, but this is just plain weird._

Naruto returned his deck to the box. "So, are we good?"

Yuya nodded slowly, then turned back to the other group.

The pair began to move over toward the others, Yuya at a slightly faster pace than Naruto. The boy in question was thinking to himself about what he had just learned from Yuya about his pendulum summoning. He was so preoccupied with his thoughts, he didn't notice Kurama, whom had now been sitting on the floor near the group of You Show students, stick out a leg, snickering as he did so.

Naruto's foot hooked onto it, and the inevitable happened. Down he went, crashing into another person, bringing them down with him.

After the shock had worn off, Naruto slowly turned his head to glare at his bijuu companion, when he took notice of the people looking at him. He was only thankful that he had landed on something soft. Yuya and Gong were looking a tad nervous, while the kids were just staring wide-eyed. Sora's reaction was the most revealing however.

"Wow, teach! You move fast." He remarked with a sly grin.

Naruto quickly realised exactly whom had given him the soft landing, and turned to apologise, when he found the girl in question looking at him with angry red eyes.

"Naruto..." Zuzu growled in a tone that promised pain.

After years of dealing with both Sakura and Tsunade's tempers, Naruto didn't bother trying to explain himself. In an instant, he was back on his feet, turned tail and ran, leaving a small dust cloud as he did. Barely a second later, Zuzu was also up, chasing after him with her fan held up, murder in her eyes as she pursued him.

"GET BACK HERE!"

As this occurred, Sora couldn't help but laugh, while Yuya prayed that Zuzu didn't kill their new friend, as he had often been on the receiving end of her fan, and boy, did she not hold back.

After Zuzu had finally calmed down, the situation was properly explained to her, but not before the pair had run over her father when he had come back in with the paperwork.

As Naruto signed the forms, he couldn't help but remember the massive amounts of paperwork his Jiji and Baa-chan had to deal with. The ninja turned duellist snickered. He could just picture Tsunade doing it now…

 **Shinobi World**

Achoo!

Tsunade sneezed as she sat in in the makeshift Hokage office, scattering the massive pile of paperwork she had still to do all over the room.

Looking over the mess, her eyebrow started twitching. Only one person could give her that feeling as she sneezed. And worse, she couldn't even hit the gaki for it!

"NNAAA-RRRUUUUU-TTTOOOOOOO!"

Even in another dimension, he gave her headaches!

 **Back in Standard**

Naruto was now sitting at the table with a large throbbing lump on the back of his head, from when Zuzu had caught him earlier. Glaring at his snickering bijuu for a few seconds, he turned to the others.

"So, what's this action duelling I keep hearing about?" he asked, eager to take his mind away from the incident that had just taken place. He had heard the term a few times on the way to You Show, but he hadn't thought to ask what it meant.

His question earned him quite a few disbelieving/incredulous stares from those around him, as if he had just said that Kaiba had given away his Blue-Eyes for free.

"You serious?" Yuya asked, taken quite off guard by the question. Naruto not knowing what a Duel school was, was one thing, but not knowing what Action duels were? That was something else entirely! He knew Naruto had said the place he grew up was isolated, but he didn't know it was that bad.

"Would I be asking if I wasn't, dattebayo?" was the blonde's reply, before slapping himself for letting his verbal tick out again.

The others looked at each other, and shrugged, as he did make a fair point. Gong checked the clock, before turning to the others.

"Well, Gong had a great time, but I better get back to the dojo. My dad'll be wanting my help with some new recruits later with our steadfast style. Till tomorrow. Have fun, guys!"

Everyone said their goodbyes, and with that, the large boy walked out the door. After he did so, Yuya began explaining what Action duels were to Naruto.

"Unlike regular duels, Action duels take place in an arena generated entirely by solid vision." He started, a grin on his face as he did so. Tate took over.

"Also, several cards, called action cards, are dispersed over the entire field." Naruto nodded in understanding, as Yuya looked a little annoyed at the spotlight being taken from him, but he got over it quickly and went on.

"Essentially, the duellists involved are able to traverse this entire field alongside their monsters, using the action cards to help if needed, but there are a few drawbacks." Yuya turned to Zuzu, whom picked up where he left off.

"For starters, you can only have one action card in your hand at a time, but there's more. While most fields only contain Action spells that help you, some contain traps that can be rather nasty." She remarked, briefly flashing back to the duel with Sawatari, where Yuya had picked up a few of those said Action Traps and had paid the price for doing so.

"And of course," Yuya exclaimed with a grin. ", every duellist has their own way of performing and entertaining the audience during an action duel. Here at You Show, our main idea is to make the audience laugh and have fun."

While Naruto was taking this in, his spirit teachers were as well. Jack looked intrigued at the idea, wondering if such a thing could be incorporated into Turbo Duelling. If only he knew what the future had in store.

Kaiba on the other hand, was a little less positive, having a frown on his face. Then again, that was pretty much his normal expression, unless Mokuba was around. Why one might ask? Kaiba was a firm believer in relying on your own strength, when it came to a duel. Adding something like Action cards into the mix, it just rubbed him the wrong way. To him, it partially seemed a little like accepting handouts, or accepting outside help. And for him, that was a rather difficult thing to do, as he had really only accepted outside help when he had little other options. ***1**

However, he wasn't going to allow a biased opinion effect how Naruto duelled. While he may not like it, he could both respect and understand that duelling was changing with the times.

Naruto looked interested at the concept. It sounded like duelling and getting some physical exercise at the same time. And that greatly appealed to him. He was about to ask if he could give one a try, when Sora decided to ask Yuya to train him again.

"This is all well and good, coach, but you still haven't taught me how to pendulum summon!"

While Yuya internally groaned and started denying him again, Naruto eyed the irritating blue-haired boy. Sora had started nagging him about pendulum summoning only just after the duel with Rick. From what he could tell, this meant Yuya had had to put up with this for far longer. His musing was broken as Yuya's annoyed tone got louder, just as Skip re-joined them, having filed his tuition forms.

"-can't pendulum summon without pendulum cards anyway, so there's no way I can teach you!"

"Come on, coach! Can't you just make one exception for your apprentice?"

Naruto, quite frankly, was getting frustrated with the boy, and he could easily tell that Yuya was in the same boat. With what he now knew, Yuya had still not gotten over the incident with Sylvio stealing his cards. Which may be partly why he was so adamant on refusing to teach Sora. If this continued, it wouldn't be much longer before the other boy snapped, as he had done to Naruto himself earlier. They needed a resolution to this issue, and they needed it now.

Then he had an idea. One that might just get Sora to back off, and they could all walk away without any hurt feelings. Just some hurt pride or damaged egos possibly.

"May I make a suggestion, Yuya?" he asked, quickly grabbing the others attention. He smirked as he looked at them.

 _ **I know that look, what are you planning?**_

Naruto didn't answer his former tenant, focusing on Sora.

"Here's the deal, Sora. From what I can tell, you want to learn how to pendulum summon, but nagging us continually isn't helping. So, we'll compromise."

"How so, teacher?" Naruto's eyebrow twitched at the nickname, causing Kurama to snicker.

"You and I have a duel. If you beat me, I'll teach you." Naruto outlined the idea. Yuya looked at him wide eyed. "But if I beat you, you back off, and give us some space."

Sora contemplated the deal. It was a fair offer, that was certain. He could either deny it and look like an ass or go with it and have a bit of fun in the process. His answer was a no brainer.

"Sure, why not? And better yet, let's make it an action duel."

Yuya jumped in at this.

"Hold on, Naruto, you don't need to-" he stopped as the blonde raised a hand.

"Maybe not, but he probably won't stop otherwise." Naruto shrugged, then turned back to Sora. "I don't see why not. I was going to ask to give one of these duels a try anyway, so it all works out."

Yuya couldn't help but frown over this. Naruto had only just learned the concept of Action duelling. Whereas Sora at least understood them better. Additionally, he felt a little guilty for not thinking up this idea himself. And since Naruto had helped him get out of his earlier funk, as well as with the situation with Rick, he felt he should lend the new guy a helping hand.

"In that case," he said, smiling at the thought of a good action duel. ", why don't I join in the fun as well?"

Silence filled the room as its occupants stared at Yuya. Then Skip broke it, true to form.

"WHOA! A duel between an apprentice and the first two pendulum summoners! This has me all fired up!" he cried out happily, as the trio of children all had stars in their eyes. Never mind the spluttered denials of the would-be teachers.

Zuzu also looked intrigued by the idea but was massaging her forehead at her father's antics.

Shaking his head, Naruto looked at Yuya. On one hand, having Yuya on deck would also allow him to vent a bit, as well as have someone experienced in these action duels in his corner to assist. On the other, Naruto didn't know what kind of deck Yuya played, thus it might not work well with his own. However, considering that Yuya was also a user of the pendulum summon, it presented an opportunity to learn more about said summon method themselves.

"I got no problem with that. You ok with that?" he queried at the boy he had challenged. Sora shook his head, then tossed his now used lolly stick behind him, which conveniently landed in a bin not far from the group.

"I don't mind. Duelling against both Teach and Coach? Now that sounds fun!" he cheered. _And it'll give me a better understanding of how both of you duel._

With the gauntlet now thrown, and picked up, the group dispersed. Yuya and Sora went running to grab their duel disks. Naruto retrieved his from his bag, slotting his deck into place.

Kurama padded over, hopping up, onto the table so that he wouldn't have to look up so much to see his former container's face.

 _What do you think of this world so far, Kurama?_

 _ **So far? It's a pleasant change, I'll give you that. I'm given a bit of freedom to wander about, and no-one has tried to use me as a weapon. I'm also intrigued by this action duelling. Know that I'll be rooting for you, gaki.**_

 _Thanks. Just one thing._

 _ **Eh-?**_ **YIPE!**

Before Kurama could ask what he meant, Naruto reached over and flicked him, right on the nose.

 _THAT was for tripping me into Zuzu earlier._ ***2**

 _ **Fair enough.**_ The bijuu grumbled, rubbing his snout. _**Of course, you realise, this, means war.**_

 _Pardon? Is the baka kitsune challenging the prankster king from hell?_ Was the mocking reply.

 _ **Indeed. I will accept your surrender now, if you wish.**_ Was the cheeky reply.

 _Maybe later._ Naruto Kurama up to his shoulder, he walked after the others.

 _ **Now, are you going to explain your other reason for this?**_

Naruto turned his head to the small kitsune, whom was staring at him intently.

"I should've realised you'd figure that out."

 _ **Damn right, you should.**_

Naruto looked forward, a serious expression covering his face. "Quite frankly, something seems a little off with Sora. His appearance at the end of my earlier duel with Rick was too well timed. He had to have been watching, but he didn't step in for some reason. Did you get anything from him?"

 _ **Not while we were in the lobby, but…**_

 _But what?_

 _ **You remember when you summoned Striker Claw?**_

 _Yes. Your point?_

 _ **I didn't realise who it was at the time, as I was partially still in that hellish contraption you call a bag, but when you summoned it, I felt suspicion and a bit of anger toward that dragon. And when it was destroyed, I felt vindictiveness. As if someone took pleasure in seeing it gone.**_

Naruto stopped just before the door, it now being the only thing separating him from the others.

 _From what I remember, when I was first being taught to duel, my father; my real father that is, told me that you can learn a lot about someone by duelling. That their true feelings come to light as they duel._

 _ **So, you're doing this, to try and figure out what he's really like?**_ Naruto opened the door, stepping through.

 _That, and he really was getting on my nerves. Honestly, how did Yuya put up with him the past few days?_

With that, he passed a scuffawing Kurama to Allie, whom wrapped the fox up in a comforting hug, as she patted him. And he enjoyed every minute of it.

Naruto moved to join Yuya and Sora in the arena. As they got situated, Skip spoke over the intercom.

"Now then, since this is a two on one match-up, Sora will start off with 8000 life points, while both Yuya and Naruto will have 4000 life points apiece. The turn structure will go: Yuya, Naruto and then Sora. Lastly, while neither Yuya or Naruto will be allowed to attack on their first turns, Sora will be allowed to do so, as by then the pair of you should have had time to work up a defence. Are there any objections?"

"None here!" Yuya called out.

"Same." Was Naruto.

"Come on, come on! Let's get on with it already!" Sora grinned.

"Alright then! Activating Sold vision. Action Field on!" he cried out, selecting an action field.

The field lit up, generating an entire landscape of a village straight out of a western. Sandy roads and landscapes around, along with older style wooden buildings, with the pair standing in front of the saloon across from Sora. The scene looked as if they were about to have an old-fashioned standoff.

Yuya was about to make a joke about the town not being big enough for the three of them, when Sora began looking around, disappointed.

"C'mon!" he whined, looking right up at Skip in the control booth. "Don't you have a better action field?"

 _Oh, you got to be kidding me!_ Jack grumbled. _He complains now? No one is going to-_

"Oh-Er… How about this one?"

 _I stand corrected…_ He mumbled. Kaiba merely smirked at his compatriot's mistaken belief, as the pair faded away, not wanting to distract Naruto.

The field lit up again, with the town disappeared, to be replaced with what Naruto could only describe as heaven for a sweet toothed Akimichi. All around him was a town made entirely of several different types of sweets. There were gingerbread houses, waffle walls, a caramel lake and river, with a few candy canes and lollipops littering the area.

Sora looked around, stars in his eyes. "Now this is more like it! Candy for everyone!" he exclaimed with glee.

"Now then, duellists, start your duel disks! Before we start, perform the chant!"

 _Chant?_ Naruto thought. _What chant? The others didn't mention-_

"Duellists locked in battle!" Yuya cried, starting them off, deploying his disk as he did so.

"Kicking the earth and dancing in the air alongside their monsters!" Sora cried, doing the same.

"They storm through the field! Behold, this is the newest and greatest evolution in duelling!" they shouted together, Naruto just looking on in bemusement and slight confusion. Shrugging, he also activated his disk.

"ACTION…" they all stopped for a second here, making Naruto smirk, as even he could tell what the next word would be.

 **"DUEL!" (Sora LP: 8000, H: 5/ Yuya LP: 4000, H: 5/ Naruto LP: 4000, H: 5)**

With that, Yuya began. "To begin the show today, I'll call Performapal Hip Hippo to the stage!" A large pink hippo wearing a top hat and waistcoat appeared, running on all fours. **(ATK: 800)**

Quickly mounting his monster, Yuya took off into the candy village, looking for any action cards. "I end!" **(Yuya H: 4)**

"My move then! Time for the Red Dragons to make their debut in the world of action duelling." Naruto remarked with an exuberant grin as he drew. Looking at his cards, he picked one, slamming it onto his disk blade.

"I summon Red Dragon - Shield Scales!"

 **(Red Dragon - Shield Scales. Level 4. Scale 3. ATR: Earth. ATK: 1200. DEF: 2000. Type: Dragon/Pendulum/Effect**

 **Pendulum Effect: Once per turn, if a Red Dragon monster would be destroyed as a result of battle, negate the destruction.**

 **Effect: Once per turn, if a monster with "Red Dragon" in its name is selected as the target for an attack, you can change the target to this card.)**

A medium sized red dragon with large armour plates covering its scales landed with a small thump. **(DEF: 2000)**

"So, these are the Red Dragons you told me about?" Skip queried to his daughter, having asked her about his new students deck before setting the action duel up.

"It looks awesome!" Tate remarked in slight awe, as the shinobi made his next move. Fredrick nodded in agreement, as Allie simply kept watching.

"I'll finish with a face down. You're up, Sora!" Naruto smirked, giving the smaller boy a thumbs up gesture. Unlike Yuya, Naruto remained where he was, as he had no idea where to even start looking for these Action cards. He couldn't see them, so that meant that they had to be hidden somewhere. **(Naruto H: 4)**

 _Now then. Let's see what deck you play._

"You got it, teach!" Sora shot back with a grin, drawing as he did so. His expression never changing, he slapped a card down.

"I activate the continuous spell, Toy Vendor!" Behind Sora, a multicoloured capsule vending machine appeared, not unlike those you might see at a shopping centre, the kind that gave out cheap, tacky toys.

"Here's how it works! I discard one card from my hand…" as he did just that, a coin entered the vending machine, allowing a capsule to roll out of it.

"… and then draw another card. If the card I draw is a level four or lower monster, I can special summon it! If not…well, the graveyard is where it'll go." He finished with a slight shrug.

Naruto and Yuya braced themselves. Sora drew, his cheerful face not changing in the slightest.

The capsule popped open, releasing a brief burst of light.

"I special summon the level three Fluffal Bear I just drew!"

A large pink coloured bear with a red cloth tied around it, and a small pair of white angel wings on its back appeared, looking around the field as it happened.  
 **(ATK: 1200)**

"SO CUTE!" Allie and Zuzu squealed. Tate tapped his ears, before turning to Fredrick.

"I will never understand girls." Nor would any boy ever.

"I beg your pardon? I think there is something in my ear."

Kurama thankfully, was now perched on Zuzu's shoulder. Otherwise, he'd have no doubt been squeezed to death by the girls. He had no desire to understand why Tora the demon cat kept running away.

Naruto looked at the creature. While it didn't look that threatening, underestimating any monster was a bad idea. Nonetheless, he decided to mess with its owner.

"No offence, Sora, but If I got a toy like that out, I'd demand a refund!" he chuckled.

"Oh, don't worry, Naruto, I definitely got my card's worth!" was the response, though he did notice Sora's eyebrow twitch at the comment. Picking another card from his hand he brought it out.

"Next up, I normal summon Fluffal Leo!"

A yellow furred lion with wings and a gold mane came out, looking a little like a stuffed soft toy. **(ATK: 1600)**

"Another cute monster!" Allie cheered. Zuzu refrained from commenting this time, but inwardly she had a similar reaction.

"Seriously?" Yuya gaped, looking behind him as Hippo continued forward. "What is it with girls and cute things?"

Unfortunately for Yuya, as he was so caught up watching what his opponent was doing, he wasn't paying attention to where Hippo was running toward. Naruto however, was.

"Yuya, eyes front!" he called out.

"Huh?" Yuya turned back to the front, too late, as Hippo jumped over the edge of the caramel lake. For a moment, they just hung in the air as Hippo's legs waved about comically. Then with a shout, the pair fell into the lake, creating a splash in the process.

"Alright, that just happened." Naruto stated in slight disbelief, as Sora snickered a bit.

Gasping, Yuya broke the surface, Hippo not far behind him. Swimming to shore, the pair were soon back in the saddle, and running over the field.

"Well, since Yuya has recovered from his swim, I'll have my monsters pay him a visit!" Sora pointed at the afore-mentioned duellist. "Leo, attack his hippo!"

Leo gave a happy growl at the idea and bounded forward, ready to destroy the unsuspecting performapal.

Yuya smirked. "Sorry Sora, but I activate the Action spell: Evasion, which allows my hippo to evade that monster of yours!"

Leo jumped forward, only for Hippo to flip over it, and continue on his merry way.

 _Huh? Did he get the card in the lake?_ Naruto wondered, as he hadn't seen Yuya grab anything before he went in.

Sora just shrugged, nonplussed.

"Oh well, if at first you don't succeed, try, try again. And I will do so with my other monster. Bear, attack Hip Hippo!"

Bear jogged forward, eyes locked on its target. Yuya looked around wildly, hoping to catch glimpse of an Action card. Which led to him once again, not looking at where he was going.

"Watch out, Yuya!" came a call from Zuzu. Too late again.

Yuya ended up crashing face first into an enormous chocolate swiss roll. A few seconds later, both him and his monster popped their heads out of the top of the dessert item, shaking their heads slightly to recover from the shock.

Naruto just sweat dropped. "How about you just keep your eyes on the road from now on?" he asked.

Yuya nodded sheepishly at that, having pulled himself out. Looking down, he saw Fluffal Bear approaching fast.

"Hope your monster has a sweet tooth, cause here comes the Action Spell, Candy Shower!" Yuya smiled, sliding the card into his disk.

Off to the side, an orange orb appeared, then self-destructed, raining down a pile of wrapped candies. Once it had, Bear came to a halt, sniffing the air. Soon laying its eyes on the pile of candy, it wandered over, sat and started shovelling the candy into its mouth like there was no tomorrow. **(DEF: 800)**

"Oi!" Sora called out, stomping his feet, as steam came out of his ears. "This is no time for a snack break! You're meant to be attacking!"

Yuya couldn't help but laugh for a second before calming down. "Candy shower switches you monster into defence mode, so it could enjoy them."

"Awww…" whined Sora, downtrodden. Sighing, he plucked one last card from his hand. "I'll end my turn with a face down." **(Sora H: 2)** With his turn done, Sora started looking around for an Action card of his own to use.

Now Naruto wasn't often called an observant person, but after seeing Yuya pull action cards out, after crashing into the sweets around the field, his theory about them being inside said sweets seemed to have merit.

"Alright then, on to act two!" Yuya exclaimed, drawing and jumping down to ground level as he did so, landing in a pile of cake batter. His grin went wide.  
 **(Yuya H: 5)**

"And now, dear audience, I beg your attention! Because with the scale 1 Stargazer Magician and Scale 8 Timegazer Magician, I set the pendulum scale!"

Slamming the cards onto his disks blade, his two magicians were soon encased in two blue columns, a one, below the magician clad in white and blue, and an eight beneath the one in black and gold. Behind them, a large image of Yuya's pendant could be seen swinging in the background.

"Yes!" Tate yelled excitedly.

"Here it comes!" Allie grinned.

"Yuya's pendulum summon!" Fredrick shivered.

"So, this is what Yuya's pendulum summon looks like." Naruto muttered, rubbing his chin in thought.

"You know what time it is!" Yuya cried, raising a hand upwards, as the large version of his pendant began swinging. "With the scale set, I can now summon monsters, level 2 through 7, all at the same time."

" **Swing forth, pendulum! Draw an arc of light across the aether!** "

A circular hole started forming, before two trails of light burst out from it.

"My monsters are ready… to swing into action!" Yuya gestured toward the lights, as the scale began to calm down."

"Stick it to 'em, Perfomapal Swordfish!"

One of the lights died down to reveal a sword with fins, with the hilt acting as a tail. Sporting sunglasses and a tuft at the top of the sword that made it look like Elvis. **(ATK: 600)**

"And the star of the show! Turn up the heat, Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon!"

As the new beast appeared, Naruto was left gaping, as a near dead ringer for his Twin-tone Pendulum Dragon was now on the field. **(ATK: 2500)**

What happened next however, unnerved him.

"Yuya… why is your dragon staring at me?"

Confused, both Yuya and Sora turned to see that Naruto was right on the money. Odd-Eyes was looking right at him, its eyes wider than usual.

"Uh… Odd-Eyes?" Yuya murmured, baffled at the sight. "We have a duel to do."

Naruto felt as if the dragon was stunned by his presence. He himself wasn't certain what to make of it either.

"While I appreciate the attention, you aren't my type." He stated calmly, trying to look a little nonchalant at the dragon staring him down.

Silence. The audience was left gobsmacked.

Sora chuckled. "You're a funny guy, coach!"

Yuya was a little green a that statement. "I… have nothing to say to that. I'm just going to pretend that didn't happen." Probably safer that way.

Shaking his head, Odd-Eyes finally turned to face the enemy. Seeing his monster getting back on track, Yuya regained his composure.

"Now that my monsters are up and at 'em, let's get to the main event!"

Yuya turned his gaze toward Sora, whom by now had managed to scale one of the gingerbread houses and was attempting to reach an action card stuck on the houses wind vane. Before he could grab it, the card blew away from him, falling back toward the ground.

While Sora was bemoaning, Naruto couldn't help but snigger a bit at his misfortune. However, it appeared Yuya was about to add insult to injury, as he has making his way toward the same house that Sora was perched on.

Leaping ahead, Hippo acted as a springboard, allowing Yuya to snag the action card Sora had been trying to acquire.

"Hey, no fair!" Sora pouted.

"First come, first served, Sora." Was the reply. At this point, noticing the other pair running around for action cards, Naruto decided it was time to move himself. Looking around, he quickly started making his way toward a garden, not far from the other two duellists, with candy floss trees and bushes. Shield Scales was lumbering after its master, its armour plates slowing it down.

"Time to cut your Leo, down to size, with my Swordfishes special ability!" Yuya exclaimed, pointing at the monster in question. "With it, I can reduce the attack points of one monster you control by 600!"

Multiple copies of Swordfish appeared around itself, then flew forward, striking the earth around the little lion. **(ATK: 1600 - 1000)**

"That lion now has more bark than bite!" Fredrick clapped his hands together, Tate nodding in agreement.

"But before I attack, I think my Odd-Eyes deserves a treat! And the action spell Nanana, is not too hot, not too cold, but just right!" Yuya pumped his fist in the air. "With it, my Odd-Eyes gains 700 attack points!"

The Pendulum Dragon gave an approving growl as it was surrounded by a yellow aura, its strength increasing. **(ATK: 2500 - 3200)**

"Odd-Eyes, attack that lion!" At his master's command, the dragon charged forward, lashing out with its tail.

With no time to react, Leo was vaporised in an instant, but it didn't stop there. Sora was thrown back, having gotten snagged by the tail, landing thankfully, on a pile of marshmallows. He went still for a bit.

 **(Sora LP: 8000 – 5800)**

"Yuya, don't you think you're being a bit hard on him?" Zuzu called out from the viewing area, worry in her eyes.

"Yeah, that could have hurt him." Allie supported.

Naruto by now had reached the garden and was watching from them from the entrance. At this he deadpanned. Did she not see what the pint size had landed on? Sora was a good actor, he'd give him that.

And he was proven right, when the boy jumped right back up to his feet, smiling as if nothing had happened.

"Not bad Yuya, but my Fluffal Leo won't be gone for long, thanks to my Fluffal Crane trap." Sora's face down card rose up as he was speaking.

"With it, not only do I get back the Fluffal Monster that you destroyed to my hand, but I get to draw another card." **(Sora H:2 - 4)** Having added those cards back to his hand, he returned his gaze to Yuya.

"What 'cha got next for me?"

"I don't have anything right now, as I'm ending my turn here." Yuya shrugged. "But I think Naruto will meet your expectations." **(Yuya H: 1)**

"Believe it!" Naruto responded, drawing as he did so. Glancing at it, his smirk grew wider. **(Naruto H: 5)**

"Now then, I will- eh?" he blinked in slight astonishment, looking down at his disk. On either end of it, two numbers had appeared in his pendulum zones. At the far left, was a one. On the right end was an eight.

 _What are these doing-?_ He broke off, having a eureka moment. _Huh. Who'd have thought it?_

"Oi, oi, what's the hold up, teach?" Sora called out, a little puzzled by Naruto's expression, yet a tad bemused at the same time.

"Oh, nothing. Besides, you know good things come to those who wait!" he remarked.

"Since Yuya has a pendulum scale already set, I don't need my own in order to pendulum summon. I can just use my teammates!"

"EEEEEEHHHHH!?" was the universal reaction of those around him, Yuya a bit more so than the others.

"With Yuya's pendulum scale in place, I can summon any monster level 2 through 7 simultaneously." As Naruto said this, the pendulum above said scale started swinging again.

"Back and forth, pendulum! Time to bring out a dragon ready to rip into battle!" He shouted, as the portal once again opened, shooting an orb of red light.

"A big welcome to Red Dragon - Pyrovern!"

 **(Red Dragon – Pyrovern. Level 5. ATR: Fire. ATK: 1900. DEF: 1000. Type: Dragon/Effect**

 **Effect: If this card is banished due to a card effect, destroy one spell/trap on the field and inflict 400 points of damage to the opponent.)**

A medium sided wyvern, with scarlet scales, and smoke billowing out of the side of its mouth came out of the red light. **(ATK: 1900)**

"Not bad, Naruto." Sora commented, a little disappointed. He'd been expecting a bit more.

"Who said I was done! I now normal summon Red Dragon – Vortex Drake!"

 **(Red Dragon – Vortex Drake. Level 1. Scale 4. ATR: Light. ATK: 300. DEF: 500. Type: Dragon/Pendulum/Effect**

 **Pendulum Effect: Once per turn, by discarding one card from your hand, you can Fusion summon 1 "Red Dragon" Fusion monster from your extra deck, using monsters you control as materials.**

 **Effect: By banishing this card from the field or extra deck; Fusion Summon 1 "Red Dragon" Fusion Monster from your extra deck using monsters you control or from your graveyard as fusion materials. Monsters used from the graveyard are also removed from play.)**

The air around Naruto shimmered as this monster came into view. It was a small dragon, going up to Naruto's knee in height, dual coloured blue and orange eyes, and light red scales. As soon as it appeared, it hovered up to its master's shoulder. Giving an affectionate growl, it remained still as Naruto rubbed its crest for a moment.

Cue the girls cooing at the scene. And Kurama having a twitching brow at the dragon for stealing his spot, on Naruto's shoulder.

 _ **When I get my paws on that thing…!**_

Yuya got over the shock of what Naruto just did and began to wonder what else there was to learn about pendulum summoning. If Naruto had just found this out, who knows what else it did? Maybe, if one of the cards in his pendulum scale was destroyed, did this mean that if Naruto was his partner, he could complete the scale with one of his own cards? Making a mental note to explore his new summon method in more detail later, he turned back to the duel.

"Cute creature. What's it do?" Sora asked, with a raised eyebrow.

"Wouldn't you like to know." Naruto replied, his smirk returning, but he then wagged his finger. "But your answer must wait for a second, as I activate the spell, Red Dragon Trail!"

 **(Red Dragon Trail. Type: Normal Spell**

 **Effect: During your main phase, activate one of the following two effects:**

 **1\. Add 1 "Red Dragon" monster to your hand, but it cannot be summoned this turn.**

 **2\. Special Summon 1 "Red Dragon" monster from your hand.)**

"Now that this trail is open, I can gain a little backup. Thanks to this card, I can use one of two effects. At this point, I'm going to add a Red Dragon from my deck to my hand, but in exchange, I can't summon the card I picked this turn." A card slid out midway down Naruto's deck. Grasping it, he added it to his hand.

 _Why would he do that now?_ The academy scout narrowed his eyes, before schooling his expression.

"Alright then. You wanted to see what Vortex Drake can do?" Turning so that he could address both Sora and the Audience.

"I wonder what's so important about that monster?" Fredrick looked puzzled.

"Probably a special ability, I'd say." Tate shrugged, also curious as to what that ability might be.

"Well, don't keep them in suspense, Naruto." Yuya said, looking at him expectantly.

"Yeah, show us!" Sora pumped up and down.

"Who am I to deny you? In order to use Vortex Drake's ability, I have to remove him from play."

A yellow aura surrounded Vortex Drake before it shattered, leaving behind two orbs the same colour as its eyes behind.

"But why?" Allie asked, a little sad to see the monster go.

"Simple. Because now that I have, by using monsters on my field or grave, I can now fusion summon a "Red Dragon" monster!"

"W-w-hat!?" Sora gave a very good fish impersonation. Yuya just stared in slight astonishment. The two orbs began circling each other, creating a vortex of blue and orange behind Naruto.

"I fuse Red Dragon – Shield Scales with Red Dragon - Pyrovern!"

Acting as one, both monsters hovered in front of the vortex, before they were swept up in it, mixing together.

" **Fire of purgatory deep beneath the surface! Merge with the hard rock of the earth! Erupt with rage at those who seek to challenge you! FUSION SUMMON!** **Red Dragon – Ignatius!** "

 **(Red Dragon – Ignatius. Level 7. ATR: Fire. ATK: 2400. DEF: 1500. Type: Dragon/Fusion/Effect**

 **1 Fire attribute "Red Dragon" monster + 1 "Red Dragon" Monster**

 **Effect: During each of your end phases, for each Red Dragon on the field, inflict 300 points of damage to your opponent.)**

A beast that looked like it was made of molten rock emerged from the vortex, its skin glowing red-hot. Its veins were visible, but instead of blood, they pumped liquid fire. Its eyes were two burning embers, and in place of a mane, a large fire had broken out on the back of its head.

Up in the control booth, Skip was left stunned. _He knows how to fusion summon! And from what Zuzu told me, he can use Synchro, Xyz and Pendulum as well! I think we just hit the jackpot with our new student!_

"Wow!" he cried out with his usual vigour. "This is turning into a blood pumping duel!"

"Is it just me, or is it getting hot in here?" Yuya asked, wiping his brow. His monsters were not much better. Also, around Naruto, some of the sweets were beginning to melt.

Fredrick looked at the creature with stars in his eyes, partially because he thought it looked cool, but also imagining the amount of sausages he could roast over the dragon.

Tate was a little on edge, partly reminded of a monster in a fantasy book he had read recently, and Allie was also in the same boat he was.

"Oh, it is, Yuya. And Sora here is about to feel the heat!" Naruto pointed right and Sora. "Here it comes! Ignatius, attack! Incinerate that bear of his!"

Roaring, Ignatius unfurled its wings and took flight, homing in on the sweating Fluffal Bear. Sora acted quickly, diving off of the marshmallows, snatching an action card from inside a waffle cell just under it, flipped over and landed in a crouch. As he did, Ignatius let loose a massive stream of flames. Yuya didn't notice Sora move, his attention on the attacker. Naruto did though.

 _OK, for a guy with no chakra, that's impressive. This kid clearly has had some form of training from somewhere._

 _ **Agreed. If this boy's a rookie, I'll eat my tails.**_

 _I didn't realise you were into that sort of thing._

… _**Oh, you utter…!**_

Ignoring his fox hurl expletives at him, he returned his gaze to Sora, as he activated the card he just acquired.

"The heat's not as tough as you think, teach! I activate the Action spell Miracle! This enables my bear to survive this heat wave!"

Fluffal Bear covered its eyes as the flames washed over it, only for it to emerge unscathed.

"Well that just burns me up." Naruto grumbled, then shrugged. "Oh, well. Can't get them all." Looking back at his hand he contemplated his next move, as Ignatius returned to his side. Then he noticed something off.

 _That's weird. Why isn't Shield Scales in my grave?_ Looking at his hand, his eyes locked onto a spell.

 _I wanted to use Return of the Red Dragon to bring it back to the field. But if it isn't in my graveyard, where is it?_

 **(Return of the Red Dragon. Normal Spell.**

 **Target 1 "Red Dragon" monster in your graveyard; Special Summon it. If a "Red Dragon" Monster you control would be destroyed, you can banish this card from your grave to negate the destruction.)**

A flashing from his disks screen interrupted his baffled thoughts. Noticing his extra decks icon was flashing, he tapped the icon to see what was going on. As the extra deck expanded on-screen, he rubbed his eyes for a second, thinking he was seeing things. Nope. It was still there.

 _Well, that's two new things about pendulum cards that I've learned today._ Looking forward, he rapidly came up with a new plan.

"I activate the Spell, Return of the Red Dragon! Thanks to this, Pyrovern resurrects to the field in defence mode."

The medium sized dragon made its re-appearance, it's wings folded in front of it. **(DEF: 1000)**

"And with that, I end my turn." **(Naruto H: 2)**

As Naruto said those fateful words, Ignatius let out a roar, standing up on its hind legs.

"What's your monster's problem?" Sora queried, having been reaching for his deck to draw.

"Oh, nothing much, just his special ability." Naruto shrugged. "With it, during my end phase, he burns up 300 of your life points for each Red Dragon I have on the field."

"Naruto has two red dragons." Allie counted. "So that means…"

"600 points of damage!" Tate pumped his fist.

"Take out Sora's life points! Go, Magma Mortars!" Naruto shouted.

Snarling in agreement, Ignatius reared back its head and fired two molten projectiles skyward. Seeing them begin to turn toward him, Sora looked for an action card. He spotted one but was too late to grab it as the missiles struck the ground around him, exploding in a large fireball. **(Sora LP: 5800 – 5200)**

"My goodness!" Fredrick exclaimed. "Sora is getting cooked like a viener schnitzel!"

The smoke died down, revealing Sora covered in what looked like soot. Coughing, he dusted himself off, throwing a glare at his opponents, both of whom were looking amused at his predicament. The camera that Naruto had pulled out from somewhere wasn't helping either. Even more so when Yuya asked for copies of the pictures he was taking.

Moving, he picked up the action card he had spotted earlier from the ground, having been blown of its perch on a candy cane shaped letterbox.

"I must admit, Sora…" Naruto remarked as he did so. "This isn't going so well for you so far. So why don't you get serious?"

Sora just stared at him, with his expression unreadable. Then he grinned. "Oh, you noticed? I think I will then, teach."

 _Wait, he wasn't duelling seriously?!_ Yuya gaped, being hit in his pride as a duellist.

The spectators weren't much better. The kids were clamouring in disbelief at the idea, while Zuzu watched in slight concern.

"First up, I draw." Sora did exactly as he said. **(Sora H: 4 – 5)** "First off, I activate the Action spell, Candy Crush!"

 **(Candy Crush. Action Spell**

 **Destroy one monster controlled by your opponent. Then draw 1 card from your deck.)**

"With it, I can destroy one monster on your field, so it's payback time Naruto!" Sora pointed at Ignatius. "Ignatius is going bye-bye!"

The ground beneath Ignatius rose up, revealing a large square blue coloured piece of candy. Above it, another piece of the same candy appeared, then dropped downwards.

"Hate to break it to you, but Ignatius is sticking around!" Naruto answered. "By banishing Return of the Red Dragon in my grave, his destruction is negated!"

Ignatius punched upwards, shattering the candy that tried to flatten him.

Frowning, Sora went on. "Candy Crush also lets me draw another card." Doing so, his face took on a look of glee.

"I don't like that look…" Yuya muttered uneasily.

"Secondly, I activate the effect of Toy Vendor again!" Sora gestured to the machine not far away from him. "By discarding a card from my hand, I get to look at the top card of my deck!" As he sent the card to the grave, a coin slid into Toy Vendors slot. As a new capsule rolled out of it, Sora checked it.

"Aren't I lucky? I got the level 3 Edge Imp Sabres! And I now summon it!"

The capsule burst open to reveal what looked like multiple sets of scissors tied together, with a glinting pair of purple eyes appearing under the handles.  
 **(ATK: 1200)**

Allie looked confused. "What's up with that monster? It looks nothing like his other ones."

Tate and Fredrick just shrugged. Zuzu was getting worried.

Naruto took the arrival of the new monster differently, looking at it with interest.

"Now then, since teach decided to Fusion summon just now, I think it's only fair I do the same!" the short boy stated.

"Hold on-" Zuzu gasped.

"Is he?" Allie blinked.

"He is!" Skip looked incredulous.

Sora placed his card down. "I activate Polymerisation!"

One of the first cards to allow fusion summoning appeared on the field, before dispersing into a swirling pool of different shades of blue and orange, not unlike the visual effect of Vortex Drakes ability, but not the same either.

"With it I can fuse monsters on my field or hand, to create a fusion monster!" Sora indicated his two monsters currently on the field.

"I fuse Fluffal Bear with my Edge Imp Sabres!" the monsters were pulled toward the swirling vortex, getting turned into specks of light and getting mixed with the other colours.

" **Claws of demon! Fangs of beast! Become one and reveal a new form and power! FUSION SUMMON!** **Frightfur Bear!** "

Frightfur Bear looked like something wearing a tall wide bear costume, with a torn open gut and scissor blades appearing out of it. Its upper arms were also made of the blades, and a pair of dark purple eyes could be seen inside it's mouth. **(ATK: 2200)**

"EEP!" Allie hid behind Zuzu, a little freaked out by this monster compared to the others Sora had summoned. The boys weren't much better, Skip still reeling from the revelation that Sora could use fusion summoning.

"That's not so cute…" Zuzu spoke softly, shivering a little.

Naruto looked at the new appearance, his eyes taking in every detail of it.

 _ **Something the matter?**_

 _Just a hunch. I'll explain later._

 _ **You better.**_

"The heck is that?!" Yuya stuttered, before shaking himself. "Sorry."

Sora shrugged. "Not the first time, it won't be the last." Moving on, he grabbed a spell from his hand.

"I play the spell, Frightfur Restock!"

 **(Frightfur Restock. Normal Spell.**

 **Take a number of "Fluffal" and "Edge Imp" monsters and return them to your deck (max. 4) Shuffle it and draw cards equal to the same number of monsters sent back plus one.)**

"I take Fluffal Bear and Edge Imp Sabres, then return them to my deck." He explained, as he returned the cards. "Then I shuffle, and lastly, I can draw three cards."

His disk's auto shuffler went to work, mixing the order of his cards up again. When it was done, Sora grabbed the top three cards and added them to his hand. Looking back to his opponents, he gave nothing away.

"Now to make things even more interesting, I'll activate the continuous spell, Frightfur Factory!"

Naruto tensed. "Considering the name that it shares with your monster, I'm guessing that lets you fusion summon again?"

"Wait a minute. He's going to do it again?!" Yuya exclaimed.

"Got it in one, teacher!" Sora nodded, evidently pleased. "Just by removing a polymerisation in my grave from play, I can do exactly what you said."

"And with it, I will fuse the Fluffal Leo and Edge Imp Saw in my hand!"

Said monsters were briefly seen behind Sora, albeit as silhouettes. Vanishing into a new fusion portal, Sora began chanting again.

" **Steel blades possessed by demons! Become one with the fanged beast, and show us a new form and power! Fusion Summon! Frightfur Leo!** "

Sora's new monster was just as fiendish looking as the previous one he'd summoned. It was a tall, grey furred bipedal lion, with razor claws emerging from it's hands, as well as a few circular saw blades forming its mane. Upon it's arrival, it let out an insane cackle. **(ATK: 2400)**

 _Did the designer of this deck happen to be a player of Five nights at Freddy's?!_ Yuya thought, grimacing. He had not liked that game at all. Afterwards, he'd had a few nightmares about his Perfomapals doing to him, what those animatronic animals had done to their night-time security guards. Seeing these fusion monsters, he couldn't help but be reminded of it.

The kids by now were shivering at Sora's new monsters. Skip by now had recovered from the shock and was looking over the field in concern.

"Those are some terrifying toys…" he gulped.

Zuzu had to keep reminding herself that his was a duel, to keep her anxiety in check.

"I use Leo's special ability! Once per turn, I can destroy any monster on the field, and deliver that monsters attack points as damage to the opponent!" Sora looked between both of his opponent's fields, before coming to a decision.

"And I think I'll make Ignatius and Naruto's life points go up in flames! Go Leo!"

Chuckling madly, the beast pounced forwards, drawing back it's claws over its head. Bearing down on both Ignatius and a scowling Naruto, it shoved them forward, shattering Ignatius and hurling Naruto into a cotton candy bush. **(Naruto LP: 4000 - 1600)**

"You alright, Naruto?" Yuya called out, a little worried for their new classmate.

"I'm ok!"

Naruto popped his head back out, pulling a bit of the soft candy from his hair. Dragging himself out of it, he looked back at Sora. "Ignatius may be down, but he'll have some payback with my trap, Red Dragon Retribution!"

 **(Red Dragon Retribution. Normal Trap**

 **If a "Red Dragon monster on your field is destroyed; your opponent must choose one card in your hand. Depending on the card chosen, activate the appropriate effect:**

 **Monster: Special summon the chosen monster, ignoring summoning conditions. If your monster was destroyed as a result of battle, also destroy the attacking monster.**

 **Spell: Your opponent takes damage equal to half of the destroyed monster's attack points.**

 **Trap: Choose one monster on your opponent's field. Cut its attack points in half.)**

"Here's how it works." Naruto gestured to his hand. "You get to pick a card in my hand. Depending on what type of card you pick, a different effect happens. The choice is yours."

Sora looked thoughtful. He knew that Naruto's hand at least contained the monster he got from his trail spell earlier. What the other card was, he didn't know. He was aware that the card on his right was the monster though. Deciding to go for the unknown option, he called out. "The left one."

Naruto flipped over a card with a green backing, but neither Sora or Yuya could make out what it was. "You picked a spell. That means you now take damage equal to half of Ignatius' attack points."

Naruto's trap glowed red, as Sora paled. "Hope you liked the candy, cos this has a bit of kick to it!" the card fired a red fiery beam right at Sora pushing him back into the side of a layer cake, despite the young duellist raising his arms to shield himself. **(Sora LP: 5200 – 4000)**

Once the beam ended, the Perse boy staggered a bit before regaining his balance.

"Alright!" Tate stated excitedly. "Now Sora's lost his double life point advantage!"

As the children chatted away, Zuzu couldn't help but smile at the three being so into the duel.

 _Seems like we found a good new friend, huh, Yuya?_ She thought, finding herself enjoying the duel.

"Cough, cough… That was a bit spicy, Naruto." Sora, finding a little humour in what just happened.

"Heh, sorry." Naruto shrugged. "Guess I should have told you the cake was a lie!"

Sora scowled a bit, before returning to his duelling. "Well, since I already hit Naruto, I don't want coach feeling left out! Bear, attack Hip Hippo!"

Stiffening, Yuya glanced around, catching glimpse of an action card on a Musk stick street sign. Leaping onto Odd-Eyes' back, both he and his dragon charged toward it.

"Oh, no, you don't!" Sora snickered, before turning to one of his monsters. "Leo! Toss me!"

Naruto was left astonished as Leo picked his duellist up, drew back it's hand, then hurled Sora like a pitcher would a baseball.

Soaring past Yuya, Sora quickly collected the action card he had been aiming for, before flipping and catching his grip on a large candy cane. Swinging around it like a gymnast, he let go, summersaulting to the ground. As the children looked at him in awe at the stunt, he gave a mock bow.

 _Another example of his training._ Naruto mused. _Good acting, rather fit for his age, and acrobatics? Just who is this kid?_

"Sorry, coach, but I can't make this duel too easy for you." Sora smirked

"Holy-" Yuya had no time to say much else as Frightfur Bear found its target. Hippo was unceremoniously smacked into the caramel lake, just like when he and Yuya had fallen in earlier. **(Yuya LP: 4000 - 2600)**

"And now…" Sora clapped his hands. "Frightfur Bear's ability activates!"

"Now what?" Yuya groaned. Turning to look at said monster, he was surprised to see the demonic soft toy stick its paw into the lake, moving it about, as if it was searching for something. Then it stopped, and fished out a dazed, swirly eyed Hippo, to Yuya's shock.

"Wait a minute here!" He exclaimed. "What's your bear doing to my monster?"

"When Frightfur Bear destroys a monster, it takes the monster it destroyed from the graveyard." Sora explained, wagging his finger. "Then equips the monster to itself, raising its attack points by those of the equipped monster."

Naruto saw where the visual effect was going, if the bear raising the hippo towards its face was any indication.

"I suggest you kids close your eyes for this…" he warned, looking toward the audience area. "This might get a little… morbid."

Zuzu had also realised. And quickly reinforced Naruto's suggestion, making the younger members of the school turn away, until she said it was ok.

Naruto was right, as Frightfur Bear proceeded to eat Hippo in one gulp, letting out a belch a few seconds afterwards.

 _Really? Cliché, much?_ Naruto thought, as Bear was surrounded by a red aura, it's attack points going up. **(ATK: 2200 - 3000)**

"Hippo!" Yuya cried, more than a little disturbed by the visual effect. After this, Zuzu signalled that it was safe for the kids to look again.

"Well, Bear's had a shot. Time for Leo to paw at you!" said Sora. "Leo, attack Yuya's swordfish, now!"

His mind going up a gear, Yuya raced into the village, with him and his monsters making like the gingerbread man would.

Leo charged forward like a mad bull, smashing through a gingerbread house in the process. Searching for it's prey, it saw Odd-Eyes standing down the other end of the street, with Swordfish next to it. Rapidly swiping its razor claws forward, it created a shockwave, which headed straight at Swordfish, whom started sweating a bit.

Suddenly, the shockwave dissipated, mere inches from the monster it was supposed to vaporise. Sora raised an eyebrow.

"Is your lion having performance issues?" Naruto asked casually, scratching his cheek, only to receive a harsh look from Zuzu. ( ***3)** Luckily the kids weren't paying attention to him, and more so at the vanished shockwave. This question had left Sora tongue-tied, before Yuya's voice rang out.

"Nope, just me using the action spell Big Escape!"

Yuya had shown himself on a bridge over a stream leading toward the lake. Taking a huge sigh of relief, he went on. "This card ends the battle phase."

"Not bad." Naruto complimented.

"Aw, phooey." Sora grumbled. Sighing, he withdrew two cards from his hand. "I'll place these two face downs, then pass Yuya the torch." **(Sora H: 2)**

"I didn't realise you carried one for him." Was a quiet statement. There was an awkward silence. Sora's brain rebooted rapidly.

"Wha-?! I'm not-!"

"Don't worry, I'm not judging you."

"… You suck, Naruto." Sora muttered softly, a tick mark forming on his head as he clenched a fist.

Naruto would have gone further, but he didn't want to draw the audience to hear him. Some of his jokes were not suitable for present company. Kurama however, had heard him via the mental link as he was rolling about on the floor, gasping for breath. Making a mental note to not use such jokes around the children, he glanced back at Sora.

"Sorry, but to be fair, you walked right into that one." He apologised.

Sora gave a slight hum, calming down. "True."

Yuya had not heard what had just been said, having drawn his card and zoned out, staring at his hand. Coming to a decision, he looked toward Sora's two monsters.

"I'll use Performapal Swordfish's ability on Frightfur Bear!" The copies of the monster came again, striking the ground around Bear, whom gave a slight moan as it powered down. **(ATK: 3000 - 2400)**

"Now Yuya's Odd-Eyes is stronger than both of Sora's monsters!" Tate exclaimed happily, his friends cheering along.

"And now time for a vanishing act, as my Odd-Eyes is about to make your Frightfur Bear disappear!"

Roaring, the pendulum dragon stormed ahead. Sora reached for his disk. "My Punch-in-the-Box trap has other ideas!"

A small jack-in-the-box like contraption appeared in front of the monster, it's arm winding back.

"With it, not only is your attack negated, but another monster on your field is destroyed, and your attacking monster loses attack points equal to that monster's attack or defence points. Whichever is higher!" Sora crowed.

"Timegazer Magician's Pendulum ability activates!" Yuya responded. "Once a turn, if a pendulum monster is targeted by a card effect, the card negates the card and re-sets it! Inverse Gearwise!"

A clockface appeared behind the magician, it's hands moving backwards. Sora's card dipped forward, returning to its face down position.

"My attack continues." Odd-Eyes continued onward, unhindered, the box fading away.

"Pretty good, Yuya, stopping my trap like that." Sora remarked, before smirking sinisterly. "But can you stop another one?"

"Huh?" Yuya froze in his steps. Sora's other face down card came up, revealing another copy of Punch-in-the-box.

 _So, he's a good planner as well._ Naruto thought, his suspicions growing further. _He anticipated Timegazer's effect, most likely from seeing Yuya duelling at an earlier point in time. To counter this, he placed two traps to make certain the effect would be carried out._

"Sorry, but this puts the brakes on your dragon's attack." Sora made a 'what can you do' gesture.

The box re-emerged, but not for long. It burst open, a fist on a spring shooting out and slamming into Odd-Eyes' midsection. Taken by surprise, it was thrown backwards, landing on top of Swordfish, whom was destroyed in the process. **(ATK: 2500 – 1900)**

"Darn!" Yuya snapped his fingers at the mistake, his concerned gaze on his Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon. Snapping his goggles over his eyes, he grumbled. "I end." **(Yuya H: 2)**

"What's wrong with Yuya?" Tate asked, a little worried.

"Yes, this is not like him at all." Fredrick was in the same boat.

It was Zuzu who answered. "Yuya's probably upset that he let Odd-Eyes get hurt. It'll probably get worse if it gets destroyed."

Since Yuya had now finished his turn, Frightfur Bear's attack points went up, no longer hindered by Swordfishes ability. **(ATK: 2400 – 3000)**

Naruto looked a bit put out at that. Why hadn't Yuya placed any face down cards? Did he not have anything that could be used? Unless he was solely going to rely on Action cards, which, not to be rude, was foolish at this point.

 _Looks like I need to help Yuya out here. Regardless of if he gets an action card or not, it may not be useful. And his Odd-Eyes is right in the line of fire. Sora won't hesitate to destroy it come his next turn._

Returning his focus to the present, he drew. **(Naruto H: 2 - 3)**

"I activate the spell Sora picked out earlier, Card of Demise!" He brought up the card, showing it to his opponents and audience.

"This lets me replenish my hand back to five cards, but in five turns, I must discard my entire hand." His explanation given, he reached for his deck to grab three new cards. **(Naruto H: 5)**

"With that, I'll make use of Yuya's pendulum scale again!" directing the audiences attention to said scale, it started swinging once more.

"Time for a return appearance, pendulum!" Naruto cried, fully enjoying himself. The portal deployed only one light this time.

"From the Extra deck, welcome back, Red Dragon – Shield Scales!"

The bulky defensive monster slammed back onto the field. **(DEF: 2000)**

"Did he just say extra deck?" Skip asked, gaping a bit. He wasn't the only one. Even Yuya, having finally gotten out of his mood, was surprised by this new move.

"Turns out that when pendulum monsters are destroyed, they're sent to the extra deck, not the graveyard." Naruto punched his palm. "Where they can be resummoned later!"

"That's amazing!" Allie gasped, in slight disbelief.

"It sounds so vunderbar!" Fredrick cried, shivering in excitement.

Yuya, if he was a little honest with himself, was a bit jealous of Naruto right now. Throughout this duel, Naruto had discovered two new things about pendulum summoning, that he, the creator of that form of summoning, had not. Despite this, he was floored by the revelation.

 _That means that even if Sora destroys Odd-Eyes, I can just bring it back on my next turn!_ This greatly pleased him. And it opened to door to so many new possibilities!

"I set three cards facedown and end my turn." Naruto stated calmly, though internally, he wasn't like that. **(Naruto H: 2)**

"Why didn't Naruto summon another monster?" Fredrick asked, puzzled.

"Maybe he didn't have any?" Allie offered.

"Possibly." Zuzu stated, but it sounded as if she didn't believe that statement.

"He must have a plan of some sort." Tate scrunched up his eyes as he thought.

"No offence, teach, but I was expecting more." Sora looked a little underwhelmed.

"Oh, don't you worry." Naruto wasn't affected by their expressions. "I just went with my instinct here."

 _That, and I can't summon anything to deal with either of Sora's monsters. I was hoping to be able to Xyz summon, but I don't have any monsters with matching levels at the moment._

"If you're sure." Sora stated drawing. **(Sora H: 3)**

"But I don't think you'll be in this duel much longer. I activate Frightfur Leo's special ability!"

Leo started cackling again.

"Once per turn, he destroys an opponents monster, and deals damage to its owner equal to its attack points!" Sora looked between the duellists. "And I think Pyrovern is the perfect target!"

"If Sora destroys Pyrovern…" Tate started.

"Naruto will take 1900 points of damage…" Allie went on.

"But he only has 1600 Life points!" Fredrick pointed out.

"Naruto…" Zuzu whispered.

Following his orders, Leo made tracks toward the red dragon, scraping it's claws together as it did so. The dragon in question didn't even react, looking at the approaching monster impassively.

With a shout, Leo brought it's claws down, disintegrating Naruto's monster causing an explosion.

"I play my face down!" Naruto called out. "Red Dragonic Defence!"

 **(Red Dragonic Defence. Normal Trap.**

 **Activate only if a "Red Dragon" monster on your field is destroyed. Cut your life points in half; you take no damage during this turn.)**

"If a red dragon on my field is destroyed, by cutting my life points in half…" Naruto growled out, struggling to stay where he was standing. **(Naruto LP: 1600 – 800)**

"… I take no damage this turn!"

Naruto tried using his chakra to try and stick to the ground, but he misjudged the amount he needed, only to be sent flying back further than he would have, going through a gingerbread house window.

 _Note to self: Go over my chakra control again. It looks as if my transference shot it to hell._ He groaned, as he stood up. That had not been a pleasant landing.

As he climbed back out the window (doors were for civilians, he was a ninja, dammit!), Yuya looked a little pale. While Naruto's life points were now safe, his weren't! A fact Sora was now realising.

"Well, since I can't take Naruto out of the duel, I'll attack you instead!"

With dread, Yuya knew whom his only target was, and raced off, trying to find an action card to save himself and his dragon.

"Frightfur Bear! Snip up Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon!"

Snipping it's scissors evilly, the bear stomped after the dragon, looking more menacing as it got closer.

Yuya was panicking as he ran past several types of cake. He couldn't find any action cards! And that bear wasn't far off.

He had never been so relieved, when Naruto cut in.

"I activate my trap!"

Suddenly, Frightfur Bear inexplicably changed course, heading for Naruto's only monster.

"Hold up, where are you going?!" the bears owner cried, indignantly, shaking a fist at it.

"He's going after Shield Scales?" Fredrick stated, scratching his head.

"But why?" Tate asked.

"My trap, Attack Guidance Armour is why." Naruto answered. "With it, I'm the one who chooses the target for your monster to attack. And I say he's attacking Shield Scales!"

A disturbing face-like set of grey armour surrounded Naruto's dragon, the eyes on the chest plate glowing an eerie red. Sora reached for his action card too little, too late to stop it.

Roaring, Frightfur Bear lunged, slamming its paw into the bulky drake, destroying it.

Sora stomped his foot childishly. "C'mon teach, did you have to do that?"

"I didn't, but I couldn't let Yuya fend for himself, now, could I?"

"Thanks Naruto!" Yuya called, relieved that he had avoided that particular onslaught, but he didn't stop looking around. Since Sora still had one monster left to attack with.

"Well then, time for my next monster to try its hand at destroying that dragon! Frightfur Leo, shred his dragon to pieces!"

As Leo began his attack, Sora pulled out the action card he had snatched up before Yuya could earlier. "And to help make sure this one goes through, I activate the action spell, Candy Coat, making Leo immune to destruction in battle and any spell/trap effects that you might use."

"But that means…" Fredrick gaped.

"Neither Yuya or Naruto can stop this attack!" Zuzu whispered.

This time, the blow struck home, Leo stabbing Odd-Eyes with its claws. Yuya could only watch, upset and unable to help his dragon. **(Yuya LP: 2600 - 2100)**

 _At least Odd-Eyes is in the Extra deck now._ Yuya thought, noting the silver lining. _I can bring him back next turn, and he'll be back to full strength when I do!_

"I set one card face down and end my turn." Sora did so, as a holographic card materialised in front of him.

"My turn, then!" Yuya piped up, eager for a little payback. Raising his hands above his head, he drew, causing a small arc of light to appear in either side of him. "DRAW!" **(Yuya H: 3)**

For a moment the stage blacked out, as a spotlight shone over the young duel-tainer.

"Ladies and Gentlemen!" Yuya swept his arms out to the audience. "The fun has just begun!"

"Here he goes!" Allie cheered.

"How will he do it this time?"

Judging from the excited exclamations that he could hear from the viewing area, Naruto could tell that this meant that Yuya was about to make a big move, possibly the finisher.

"As you can see, aside from my two magicians in the pendulum zone, my field is barren. Not a monster in sight!" Yuya twisted his head this way and that, in search of the elusive 'monsters'.

"But with the power of Pendulum, that will soon change! Before I do so, I don't have all my cast members!" Yuya shrugged, acting as if he was downcast. It wasn't long before his expression returned to its jubilant one.

"Not to worry! My Performapal Recasting should help me out!" pointing his index finger upwards, he took a card and returned it to his deck.

"By returning Performapal Skeeter Skimmer from my hand to my deck, I shuffle, and get two new cards!"

After it was reshuffled, his disk spat out two new cards for him.

"Wonderful! I now activate the spell, Monster Reborn, to bring Swordfish back to the stage!"

A black hole opened up in front of Yuya, allowing Performapal Swordfish to exit the graveyard.

"And now to call up the star performers! Swing forth, pendulum!" he called out. And just as he called, it did so.

"Once more, I can special summon monsters level 2 through 7, all at the same time!"

The portal opened for the final time this duel, shooting out three arcs of light.

"Firstly, cheer on, Performapal Cheer Mole!"

The first one disappeared to show a bipedal female mole in a cheerleader's outfit, hiding its sparkling eyes behind it's pom-poms. **(ATK: 600)**

"And he's not the greatest or the best, but he's my King Kong banging on his chest! Performapal Drummerilla!"

A top-hat wearing gorilla came out of the second light, it's upper torso made out of a built-in drumkit, and instead of hands, it had two large spheres, so that it could bang the drums on its chest, Naruto supposed. **(ATK: 1600)**

"And last, but not least, the dragon with di-chromatic eyes! Returning from the extra deck, Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon!"

In a small burst of flames, Yuya's ace monster made a triumphant return. **(ATK: 2500)**

 _Ok, now that that's sorted, who do I go after?_ Yuya mused. _I have the cards to take that either of them out, but Sora won't take enough damage to lose if I kill Bear. And Leo may still become more of a problem later. Not to mention,_ he gazed at his second face down. _I don't know what that card is._

Looking between them, he decided. _If this doesn't work, I'll try to take them both out. Even if Sora doesn't lose here, he'll be wide open for Naruto to finish him off._

His mind made up, he put his plan into action. "I'll use Swordfishes ability again, on Frightfur Leo!"

The copies appeared once more striking toward the lion.

Sora narrowed his eyes, looking around. Running back over the bridge, he snatched an action card from a sugar flowerbed.

"I activate the action spell, Sweet Scent!"

 **(Sweet Scent. Action Spell**

 **If a monster you control is targeted by an attack or effect, change the target to another monster on your field.)**

"Hope your fish likes the smell!"

A rather pleasant aroma filled the air, around them, none of the duellists certain where it was coming from. It smelled like a baked cake, fresh from the oven.

Both Naruto and Yuya paused to take it in. _Mmmmmm… Cake…_

"Oh, my, what I wouldn't give for a large chocolate cake right now…" Fredrick's mouth watered at the very thought.

Sora's cheeky tone snapped the pair out of their dreams of dessert.

"You may want to take a look at your fish Yuya."

Uncertain as to what the young boy was on about, Yuya did as he suggested, only to see that his monster's eyes had gone cloudy, the monster daydreaming over the smell.

"Swordfish, snap out of it!" he yelled, trying to bring his monster back to its senses.

Sora let out a snigger. "The smell makes your monster lose focus. As a result, I'm the one who'll choose the target for its effect. I think Frightfur Bear is a better choice."

True to his statement, the swordfish copies veered away from Leo, to strike the ground around Bear, who groaned as his attack decreased again. **(ATK: 3000 – 2400)**

"I know about Odd-Eyes double damage ability, Yuya." Sora chastised. "Both my monsters fall into the category of being level 5 or higher, so I'm not about to let you end the duel this early. Now, you have to pick between two monsters with the same attack points."

Yuya grit his teeth, but otherwise stayed calm. Plan A was out, that meant he'd have to go with plan B.

"In that case, you won't mind if I make its attack go down further?" Yuya questioned, smiling as he did so.

"Wha-?" Sora blinked.

"I activate the effect of Performapal Cheer Mole!" Yuya gesture his arm toward the shy creature.

"Once per turn, if a monster's attack points change, Cheer Mole can affect it as well! Since, your Frightfur Bear lost attack points, Cheer mole makes it lose another 1000 of them!"

Cheer mole started dancing around a bit, shaking its pom-poms. In response to this, Frightfur Bear staggered backward. **(ATK: 2400 - 1400)**

"And with my cheer squad having done its work, Odd-Eyes attacks Frightfur Leo!"

The pendulum dragon threw back its head, taking a deep breath in.

"At this point," Yuya rubbed his hands together. ", Drummerilla's ability activates! He increases my Odd-Eyes attack points by 600!"

With a shout, Drummerilla started beating its chest, releasing soundwaves around itself. Hearing it, Odd-Eyes felt stronger. **(ATK: 2500 – 3100)**

Sora reached for his disk, only to stop, when Naruto cut in.

"I activate the action spell, Candy Syrup!"

 **(Candy Syrup. Action Spell**

 **Select one facedown spell/trap on your opponent's field. It cannot be activated this turn.)**

Sora suddenly felt something odd, under his feet. Lowering his gaze, he found himself standing in a pool of some sort of sticky substance, which made it difficult for him to move about.

"This is-!"

"Melted candy syrup." Naruto nodded. "Sticky, isn't it? One of your face down cards is about to find that out."

"Where did he get the action card?" Fredrick asked. "I didn't see him grab one."

"From inside the house, I guess." Zuzu replied, also intrigued.

The pool of syrup started spilling out around Sora, seeping toward his face down Punch-in-the-Box trap, where it had remained facedown since Yuya had negated its activation beforehand.

"With this card in play, you can't activate your Punch-in-the-Box this turn!"

"Say what?!" Sora gaped, thrown off by this.

"You're in a bit of a sticky situation!" Yuya cried, pointing right at Leo. "Attack now, Odd-Eyes! Reaction Force!"

Bringing its head forward, the dragon let loose a massive stream of red energy, one that Naruto wasn't certain were flames or not.

Slamming into Frightfur Leo, the Lion held its ground, snarling in exertion.

"You forgot my other trap, Naruto! My Frightfur Defender is now triggered!" Sora's still functional card flipped face up.

"It prevents him from being destroyed!" The blast finally subsided, leaving Leo still standing.

"Maybe not." Yuya shot back. "But you're still taking damage! And when it battles a level 5 or higher monster, the damage is doubled!" **(Sora LP: 4000 – 2600)**

Sora grimaced momentarily, but quickly bounced back. "Frightfur Defender also increases Leo's attack points by 800!"

Leo let out a challenging roar, to which Odd-Eyes responded equally. **(ATK: 2400 – 3200)**

"I may not be able to take out your Leo…" Yuya started. "But that Bear is another story! Drummerilla, attack Frightfur Bear!"

With an "Ooh, ooh!", the musical ape bounded over the terrain. Sora, seeing the threat, tried to move, but ended up falling flat on his face as he tried to get out of the sticky substance, earning a few giggles from the trio of kids.

Arriving, Drummerilla launched a ferocious uppercut into the macabre-looking toy's stomach. With a howl of pain, Frightfur Bear disintegrated. **(Sora LP: 2600 – 2400)**

"I end my turn. It'll be up to my assistant, Naruto to win this!" Yuya remarked, full of humour. **(Yuya H: 0)**

"I'm nobody's assistant, Yuya!" was the heated reply. This just made Yuya chuckle a bit, having gotten that reaction out of him. As he was yelling, the syrup disappeared, letting Sora get back up, and freeing his face down card. Seeing Naruto about to start his turn, he gave 'come at me' motion with his hand.

"Bring it, Teach!"

"Consider it, brought!"

"Can Naruto win at the moment?" Tate asked Zuzu, a little disappointed that Yuya hadn't won that round. "He only has one facedown card, no monsters, and only two cards in his hand."

"We're about to find out." Was her solemn reply.

"Why don't we cheer him on?" Allie suggested.

"That's a good idea!" Fredrick supported, before shouting out. "Do your best, Naruto!"

"Fight on!"

"You can do it!"

Kurama pumped his fore paws in the air. _**Give him hell, brat.**_

Zuzu's eyes shined with mirth as she watched the children continue to verbally support their new friend.

It had an effect on Naruto, but not what the others expected. Momentarily, his eyes glazed over, as a sudden vision struck him.

 **Memory Fragment**

 _The stadium was erupting with people shouting his name, urging him not to surrender. Across from him was another duellist, but he couldn't make out his face._

" _Things don't look so good for our challenger, Menma Atlas!" the announcer called out. "His life points are down to a measly 200, and his opponent still has over 2000!"_

" _Please kid, give up. Clearly, you're not your old man!" his opponent stated calmly, yet with a mocking undertone as well._

 _Menma struggled to stand, the last attack having winded him. Was this really where he would stop? Would his progress so far mean nothing?!_

" _Don't give up, Menma!" a female voice cut through the crowds roaring. Turning, Menma was stunned at whom was sitting in the audience, just across from him._

" _Ray… you came…"_

" _Of course, I did! Now stand up!"_

" _But… I…"_

" _If you lose here, Zarc'll never let you live it down! Didn't you two make a promise to fight each other in the finals?!"_

 _That struck a chord with the young duellist. She's right. He thought. And I never go back on my promises!_

 _Standing took an effort, but he still did so. And the air filled with people chanting his name._

" _Thank you… Ray…"_

 **End Fragment**

Naruto gasped, staggering forward slightly. Around him, Yuya looked worried, and he wasn't the only one.

"Naruto?" Zuzu called out. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine." Was the placating reply, not that it convinced everyone else.

 _ **What was that?!**_

 _A flashback, I think. One of my old memories sorting itself back into place._

 _ **Well, just as well.**_

 _Are you worried about me Kurama?_

 _ **And why should I be?**_

Chuckling, Naruto broke off. "Well then, are you all ready for me to kick this duel into hyperdrive?!" he shouted out in a boisterous fashion.

"Go for it!" the kids responded together. Yuya nodded eagerly, clearly hoping for something cool.

And Naruto wasn't about to disappoint him. "Well in that case…" Naruto placed both arms in front, his hand on top of his deck, the top of said deck and disk facing his opponents. Pausing for a second, he turned to Yuya.

"Might we drum up some suspense?"

It took a sec for Yuya to get it. "Why not? Drummerilla, drumroll please!"

As ordered, the gorilla started softly beating its drums quickly. Naruto nodded in thanks, then closed his eyes.

'It's…"

The audience, had they been sitting, would have been on the edge of them.

"… SHOWTIME!" Naruto roared drawing his card and disk away from each other simultaneously, causing a small arc of flames to ignite in front of him. Zuzu's heart skipped a beat, wondering why that looked familiar. **(Naruto H: 3)**

Glancing at the card, letting the drumming die down, Naruto's lips twitched upward. "I activate the spell, Red Dragonic Fusion!"

 **(Red Dragonic Fusion. Normal Spell**

 **Using "Red Dragon" Monsters from either your hand or field as fusion material, you can fusion summon a "Red Dragon" fusion monster. During the turn the fusion monster is summoned by this card's effect, it cannot be destroyed. By banishing a "Red Dragon" fusion monster in your graveyard, you can return this card to your hand.)**

"Fusion again, eh, teach?" Sora tilted his head, his eyes wide with wonder at what Naruto was going to summon. "It's the best method ever, right?"

"I believe they all have potential." Was the reply that earned a barely noticeable frown from the boy, but Naruto still saw it. Clearly the kid disagreed.

"Regardless, I now fuse the level 6 Red Dragon – Gale Drake with level 5 Red Dragon – Vice Wyvern in my hand!"

 **(Red Dragon – Gale Drake. Level 6. Scale: 4. ATR: Wind. ATK: 2000. DEF: 1500. Type: Dragon/Pendulum/Effect.**

 **Pendulum effect: Once per turn, you can return one spell/trap your opponent controls to his hand.**

 **Effect: By banishing this card, return all spells/traps your opponent has on the field to his hand.)**

 **(Red Dragon – Vice Wyvern. Level 5. ATR: Dark. ATK: 2200. DEF: 2000. Type: Dragon/Effect.**

 **Effect: If your opponent controls a monster, while you control no monsters, you can special summon this card from your hand, but this card's original attack and defence points are halved.)**

Faded versions of the dragons he was using briefly stood behind Naruto. Gale Drake was a bipedal dragon with scarlet scales, but with green highlights in certain areas. It had two horns growing out of the back of its head, and a large pair of furled up wings. A spiked tail grew out behind it.

Vice Wyvern, was around the same size as its fellow red dragon. It had an enlarged head with slitted yellow eyes, it's arms were built into its wings, and it was a darker shade of crimson.

The silhouettes were then pulled into a new twisting portal of red and orange. Before long a set of vines started emerging from it. And Sora started getting a bad feeling. One that felt awfully familiar, as Naruto started his summon chant.

" **The union of these dragon's souls is beyond lethal! Come together, and bring about hell on earth with your venomous might! FUSION SUMMON!** "

A dark shadow appeared behind Naruto as the fusion vortex became to blinding to look at.

" **Red Dragon – Violet Toxin Fusion Dragon!** "

 **(Red Dragon – Violet Toxin Fusion Dragon. Level 8. ATR: Dark. ATK: 2800. DEF: 2000. Type: Dragon/Fusion/Effect**

 **2 Level 5 or higher "Red Dragon" Monsters**

 **Effect: If this card is fusion summoned using materials from your hand, the attack points of all special summoned monsters on your opponent's field become 0. Once per turn, select one level/rank 5 or higher monster your opponent controls, negate its effect, and this card gains that effect. If this card is banished by a card effect, destroy all monsters your opponent controls.)**

Sora was not often one to shy away from a challenge. Most would say he was rather brave. As he went through this duel, he had been intrigued by the way Naruto had played. Instead of standing completely on his own, he had help Yuya stay standing, and gave a few laughs here and there, even if it wasn't entirely appropriate for present company. When Naruto had made clear his intention to end the duel here, he relished the coming challenge.

And yet… this creature made all of his confidence desert him in that moment. He instantly went pale and started shaking like a leaf.

"Yu-uri?!" he whispered shakily, shivering where he stood, as the image of Naruto faded away, leaving one of his more sadistic comrades in his place. Along with the memory of one of his most crushing defeats.

He couldn't breathe, he couldn't even think straight. He had to get away.

NO! He wouldn't lose again! He would-!

"Sora, what's the matter?"

Sora looked up at his name being called, snapping back to reality. Naruto had moved closer to him, and was looking at him with a raised eyebrow, his concern clear on his face. He was now next to the same candy floss bush he'd been sent into earlier.

"It's nothing, I'm fine…" Now that he was slightly calm again, he finally noticed that despite the heavy similarities, it was not Yuri's dragon. The armour plates were a darker shade of purple, the skin underneath instead of a blackish-brown, was blood red, and it had two sets of wings emerging from it's upper back, along with the one set from the lower back. **(ATK: 2800)**

Taking a deep breath, his heart rate finally went back down to normal levels. _Damn, that thing nearly gave me a heart attack! A dragon matching Yuya's Odd-Eyes is one thing, but another matching that… thing?! The hell?!_

Burying his fear and confusion, he narrowed his eyes at the blonde-haired duellist. _Just who is this guy?!_

"Violet Toxin's ability activates!" Naruto looked victorious, as he reached into the bush. "When it's summoned using materials from my hand, the attack points of all special summoned monsters on my opponent's field drop to 0!"

"It does what?!" Sora yelped, shocked, not noticing Naruto pull out an Action card from the bush in his surprise.

"GO, Toxic Wave!"

Gathering its arms around itself, the dragon began glowing a sickly purple, before thrusting it's arms out, releasing the sludge-like energy right at Sora's monster. The Lion snarled in pain as its strength was depleted. **(ATK: 3200 – 0)**

Glancing back at his field, Sora forced himself to keep his calm façade up. _I still have my Punch-in-the Box, so I should be safe for now._

Naruto, upon seeing Sora somewhat recover his composure, moved on with the duel. "I play my final facedown, Dragonic Red Healing!"

 **(Dragonic Red Healing. Normal trap.**

 **Banish 1 "Red Dragon" monster in your grave. Recover Life points equal to half of its attack points.)**

"By banishing Red Dragon – Pyrovern, I regain life points equal to half of its attack!" A shower of red particles showered over Naruto, and he relaxed as his life points went up. **(Naruto LP: 800 – 1750)**

Yuya looked puzzled. "Wouldn't Ignatius have been a better choice for that effect?" he wondered.

Sora had raised both eyebrows, just as perplexed. "Yeah, what gives, teach?"

"I didn't do that just to raise my life points." Naruto retorted calmly, his eyes closed. Then they snapped open. "I did that to remove Pyrovern."

Sora scratched his head. "Why?"

"Because I have done so, Pyrovern's ability activates!" A silhouette of the monster briefly appeared behind him. "When it is removed from play, I can destroy one spell or trap on your field, and then deal you 400 points of damage."

 _Oh, shit…_ Sora gulped, bracing himself. His facedown card glowed briefly, before exploding in a harsh fireball. **(Sora LP: 2400 – 2000)**

"Sora's on his last legs!" Skip exclaimed.

"He has no real defence left!" Tate looked more excited than ever.

"Go for it, Naruto!" Allie supported.

"You may earn the right to learn pendulum summoning one day Sora." Naruto stated sympathetically. "But this is not that day! Violet Toxin, attack Frightfur Leo! Ultimate Toxicity Stream!"

Desperation finally set in for the young Obelisk blue, as he sped off, his eyes frantic as he searched for an Action card. He needed something, anything to stay in this! Naruto's dragon started building up its power again. The final nail in Sora's coffin, however, were Naruto's next words.

"No action card you find will help."

"What do you mean?" He asked, looking back over his shoulder, nervously.

Naruto turned the action card he had found originally but had not picked up. It was the action spell No Action.

"This show is over."

Sora went dead in the face. _But that means…_

The toxin dragon shot out a stream of purple flames, that looked thicker and deadlier than any form of dragon breath that Sora had ever seen. He could only watch helplessly, as his Frightfur Leo was struck, the attack blasting right through it, like a hot knife through butter. It's wound catching fire, the monster detonated with a harsh wail, flinging Sora back into the steam.

 _I lose…_ **(Sora LP: 1900 – 0)**

 **Naruto & Yuya Win!**

The actin field powered down, Sora still lying flat on his back. Slowly, he sat up, to find a pair of hands stretched out in front of him. Yuya was standing to his left, Naruto on the right, with both of them offering to help him up.

Taking the offered hands, the pair pulled him to his feet. Sora looked between them, unsure what to say.

"That was a fun duel." Yuya clapped him on the shoulder. "We should do it again sometime."

"I'll say." Naruto grinned. "Only next time, I think one on one would be a better idea."

"No complaints here." Sora groaned, working out a kink in his back.

"Come on, let's get out of here. The others are waiting." Yuya beckoned the other two as he walked toward the door.

Sora stayed where he was, his gaze firmly locked on Naruto. _He's different. Yuri would never offer help up someone who lost. That at least, is a relief. But still, what was that? I'll be keeping an eye on you from now on._

Naruto exited the field area, just as the kids ran up to them.

"Well done, Naruto." Zuzu said, as she walked toward them. "So, what did you think of action duelling?"

"It's different to what I'm used to." Naruto started. "But I think that's a good thing."

Before Naruto could continue, Zuzu snatched him by the ear, and brought him close.

"I better not hear any more of those jokes around the kids, alright!?" she hissed in his ear, in a tone that accepted no resistance.

"Yes ma'am!" was his strangled reply.

 _ **Whipped.**_

 _Can it!_

"What was that about?" Tate asked.

"Were you asking Naruto out, Zuzu?" Sora mock gasped, trying to earn a bit of entertainment.

"Eh? Why would a girl like her go out with him?" Yuya asked, not realising the danger, nor the dark miasma surrounding his childhood friend.

WHIP! WHAP!

Both boy's faces hit the ground, Sora for insinuating such a thing, and Yuya for indirectly insulting both her and Naruto. Zuzu blew a bit of steam off her fan, pleased with herself.

 _Me and my big mouth…_ Sora mentally vowed not to get on Zuzu's bad side again.

"Why do I bother?" Yuya groaned.

As he spoke, Kurama was quick to reclaim his place on Naruto's shoulder.

 _You like it there, huh?_

 _ **I admit nothing!**_

Naruto would have argued, when a loud rumble echoed throughout the room. As one, everyone turned to You Show's newest student, whom was now clutching his stomach.

"Guess the action duel made me work up an appetite, dattebayo." He remarked sheepishly. _Damn it! Not again!_

Getting up, Yuya was feeling peckish himself. "Well, since you're staying with me, why don't we go see if my mom can cook us up an early dinner?"

"Sounds good to me." Naruto rubbed his stomach, eagerly anticipating the coming meal. _I wonder if she can make ramen?_

Kurama sweat dropped. _**Of course, …**_

After saying his farewells to the kids and Zuzu, the three boys set out, their destination: Yuya's house!

 **Leo Corporation Tower.**

Declan Akaba stood at his window over the city, his ever-present scowl not leaving his face. As he did, he thought over the more recent development.

Not too long ago, they had detected a few surges of fusion energy. Two of them had been caused by one Sora Perse, whom by now Declan was certain was a puppet of his father, Leo Akaba in the fusion dimension. It was to be expected that Leo would try to probe this dimension's defences. But by doing so, he may have just tipped his hand. They were now aware that he was doing that, and prepare accordingly.

The other two fusion surges, were brought about by the newcomer, Naruto Atlas-Uzumaki. Now this had been a twist that he had expected, and yet, one that unnerved him all the same. Other than himself, there had not been a duellist that had been able to make use of all existing summon methods.

Well, technically Naruto was the first to do so in this case, as his company was still working to create their own prototype pendulum cards.

 _Xyz, Pendulum, Synchro, and now fusion…_ From what data they had recovered, Naruto's Synchro energy was by far his strongest, leaving little doubt in his mind where the unknown had originated from. The Synchro Dimension.

 _The main question is why are you here? Are you acting alone? Have synchro already formed an alliance with my father? Or is something else at work here?_

All were relatively reasonable questions, but the young president had no answers to any of them. And he despised being left in the dark in matters such as this. Thinking hard for a moment, he returned to his desk, pressing a button on the right side of it.

Within a few minutes, his assistant was at the door.

"Yes, Mr. President?"

"Claude, contact the Fuma Clan. I have a job for them."

"Yes, sir."

As Claude moved to perform his assigned task, Declan sat back, taking a sip from a cup of coffee he had prepared earlier.

 _They should be able to discern the truth. Let's see who you really are, Mr. Atlas-Uzumaki._

 **Yuya's house, a while later**

Yuya opened the door, allowing the three boys and fox entrance. "I'm home!"

"In the kitchen, Yuya!" a female voice echoed throughout the house. Walking toward the origin, the boys found a youngish looking woman with dual tone blonde gold hair and green eyes. She wore a pale coloured long sleeved top, with the sleeves pulled back to her elbows, a pair of denim jeans and light brown flats. This was Yoko Sakaki, Yuya's mother.

She was bent over the stove, about to put something on, when they came in. Noticing the new addition to the group, she put the pot to one side, deciding to cook after she found out whom this new stray was.

"Sora, Yuya, welcome back. And whom might this be?" she asked curiously, turning to Naruto with a raised eyebrow.

"Er-I'm Naruto. Yuya was kind enough to offer me a place to stay, as I don't really have anywhere else to go at the moment." Naruto explained, not wanting her to get the wrong idea. He then tilted his head. "He didn't mention that he had an older sister though."

Yoko stiffened, going a little red in the face. "You… think I look that young?"

 _Oh boy, here we go again._ Yuya sweat dropped, while Sora smirked widely, remembering what had happened a few days ago. Yoko let out a squeal.

"Awww! Well aren't you a charming young man!" she smiled, flattered highly by the compliment. "Of course, you can stay as long as you need."

"What did I say?" Naruto looked around confusedly, not entirely sure why he got that reaction.

Sighing, Yuya explained. "Naruto, this is my mother."

Naruto's jaw hit the floor. _Holy… damn if she hasn't aged well!_

 _ **Agreed.**_ Kurama was bug-eyed at the information.

It was at this point that Yoko finally noticed Kurama perched atop Naruto's shoulder. "And who's this little cutie?" she asked, snatching him up.

 _ **Now, see here, I'm not cute! I am the mighty Kyuubi no Kitsune! I can cause tsunamis and earth- ohh, that's the spot…**_ Kurama became putty in her hands, as she started scratching him behind the ear.

Trying to change the subject, Yuya asked "So, what's for dinner tonight, mom?"

 **Naruto's room for the night, much later.**

Naruto had been situated in the houses guest room, while Sora bunked with Yuya, much to the latter's annoyance. Off to the side, Yoko had placed a large cushion for Kurama to sleep on. He was taking enjoyment in curling up on it. It was a lot more comfortable than Naruto's old seal, that was for certain.

Naruto was getting ready for bed, clad in a black singlet top, which did nothing to hide his toned chest, and red boxers.

Kurama opened a red slitted eye, looking at his container.

 _ **So, did that duel get you what you need?**_

 _I think I got a good judge of Sora._

 _ **Well, let's hear it.**_

 _Aside from his prior physical training and acting skills, I got the sense that Sora was like his deck. His Fluffals showed his external appearance, friendly and unthreatening. The edge imps hint at a darker side, with the Frightfurs fully bringing that side into the light. I got the sense that the Frightfurs were his real monsters._

 _ **Sounds about right. Considering this and his other skills, you do realise that he's probably a spy, right?**_

 _Most likely. Question is though, for whom?_

 _ **You've got me. We'll have to keep a close watch on him from now on.**_

 _Indeed._

Kurama yawned. _**Well, I would like to get some sleep without getting my fur wet for once.**_

Naruto cringed slightly, remembering his seals format as a sewer. _Did I ever apologise for that?_

 _ **You don't need to. I blame Minato for setting that seal up, not you. Till tomorrow, gaki.**_

Kurama closed his eye again, before settling down to sleep.

Naruto briefly glanced outside his window, looking out at the night sky. _What a day…_

Pulling down the blind, he settled into the bed for some shut-eye of his own. The first day of his new life was over. Only time would tell what the next would bring.

 **Chapter End.**

 **And done! Wow, I did not expect how popular this story was going to get. Many thanks to my followers and reviewers, who without I don't know what I'd do.**

 **Special shout outs go to RoyalTwinFangs, whom designed 3 of the cards I used in this chapter: Vortex Drake, Return of the Red Dragon and Vice Wyvern.**

 **And a very heartfelt thanks to dragonicdevil, whom helped go over this chapter.**

 **SO,... It turns out that Menma did know Ray and Zarc. Naruto is slightly distrustful of Sora, considering his actions. But we are now left with more questions.**

 **What are these Fragments that Archfiend was talking about at the beginning?**

 **How long was Naruto really gone from the Yu-gi-oh verse?**

 **I'll do the footnotes before moving on to the announcements.**

 **1\. This isn't how I feel about action duels. Personally, I quite liked the idea of them, but I had to take Kaiba's character into account.**

 **2\. I am not a supporter of animal cruelty, that was just a way for Naruto to get some payback**

 **3\. Naruto often tends to say things without thinking, which is why he made those jokes then. Normally, I would frown upon people telling jokes like that around minors. Please understand that in future, while the trio of children are around, Naruto will try not to make them. If they aren't there, he'll make use of them.**

 **And now, the announcements!**

 **First up, my recent decisions regarding the poll. I will be taking it down for good, four days after this chapter is posted. Quite frankly, I think that I've been more than generous with how long it's been up.**

 **Secondly, is the decision regarding the final girl. Due to popular feedback, I'll be putting the fourth placed poll member into the harem.**

 **Currently, the girls lined up for it are:**

 **1\. Rio Kastle (122 votes. I'm not going to lie, I was expecting her to make it)**

 **2\. Arc-V Alexis Rhodes (119 votes. Again, not a surprise)**

 **3\. Ishizu Ishtar (49 votes. This was a bit of a surprise, but I'm not going to complain)**

 **3\. Tea Gardner (49 votes. This blew me out of the water. Considering when I last checked the poll, some 4 days back, her votes were in the twenties. Talk about a come from behind placing)**

 **Considering how far in front both Rio and Alexis are, compared to Ishizu, I am locking both of them into the harem. The poll is now trying to decide the third and fourth girls. The closest behind Tea and Ishizu are:**

 **4\. Sherry LeBlanc (45 votes)**

 **5\. Grace Tyler (44 votes)**

 **After these two, the vote count drops to the twenties, with Julia Krystal on 23 votes, and all other contenders below her. As I said, I will only be keeping the poll open for another 4 days, so there is still a bit of time for the girls to change.**

 **After the poll is closed, I will be making an announcement on this story about who made it. IT WILL NOT BE A CHAPTER, so please do not get angry at me about it. I have warned you, so please do not get your hopes up.**

 **Next, some of you may be wondering whom I am planning to pair with Yuya. This ties in to when I hinted that some Naruto characters, some living some deceased, would later be crossing over into the Yugioh-verse to lend a hand. While I definitely have 2 planned, the third member will become Yuya's girlfriend. After the Harem poll is finished, a new one will be going up to determine who the lucky girl will be. Also listed will be the deck types that I think each girl would use.**

 **Currently, I only have three possibilities:**

 **Fuu (Insector)**

 **Female Haku (Ice Barrier)**

 **Shizuka (Amazon)**

 **During the time it takes for Naruto's Harem poll to finish, I will be accepting suggestions for other participants in the new poll, along with which decks would work with them. Once the new poll goes up, that will be it, I will not be taking new contenders after that! Again, you have been warned.**

 **Now, considering that I am rather apologetic about not updating for so long, I believe I should leave you with a slight teaser for the next chapter.**

" _Hey, who the hell are you?"_

" _So, you're the one Rick was talking about. I didn't believe him when he said another person had pendulum cards."_

" _Yeah, what's it to you?"_

" _I'll be taking them after this! The names Sylvio!"_

…

" _Since we're now settled in, I think we should take a look at that scroll we were left with."_

 _ **I guess we'll need to take a little trip then.**_

…

" _Huh? Gong, what are you doing here?"_

" _Gong could ask you the same. I was going out to a training field out of town. You?_

" _Similar deal. You mind traveling together?"_

" _Not at all."_

 **I believe this should give a hint as to whom Naruto's next opponent(s) shall be. Till next time, drop a review, or PM me if you are interested in taking up one of my challenges/future stories.**

 **FLAMERS WILL BE INCINERATED BY ARCHFIEND'S FLAMES! I am not forcing you to read this, the least you could do is respect that. If you don't like it, I will take reasonable suggestions for future changes, but I draw the line at being flamed!**

 **Well then, till next time,**

 **MH out!**


	4. Poll Results!

**Poll Announcements!**

 **As I stated earlier this week when I released chapter 3 of this story, the poll is now closed.**

 **Before you guys get mad at me for not having another chapter ready for you, Sorry, but I did warn you that this announcement was coming in the closing AN of the last chapter, and I also said THAT THIS WOULDN'T BE A CHAPTER! So please, don't drop angry reviews or angry PM's to me please. I told you this was happening.**

 **NOW THEN…**

 **To the results! The final 4 girls in Naruto's harem are now decided!**

 **In first place, with 136 votes…**

 **Rio Kastle! (Not a surprise, considering that she was so far ahead when I last told you guys the tally)**

 **In second place, with 133 votes…**

 **Arc-V Alexis Rhodes! (See my comment for Rio)**

 **Now we move to the more convoluted area of the poll. A lot of these girls were very close earlier this week, but there can only be two more winners!**

 **In third place, with 70 votes…**

 **Tea Gardner! (Wow. I was not expecting her to make it. Not because I have anything against her, but because of how quick her rise up the poll rankings were.)**

 **And now for the final position. For those of you, I can imagine some of you will be pleased, others not so much. Please don't blame me for who got in an who didn't. I'm just telling you the results. Besides, as I said previously, I have been more than generous with how long this poll has been up.**

 **In fourth place, the final member of the harem, with 69 votes is…**

…

 **Sherry LeBlanc! (Again, a surprise.)**

 **That's it, the poll for Naruto's harem is now closed. I do apologise to anyone who did not see a particular girl they wanted in here, but thems the breaks I'm afraid.**

 **BUT THAT's NOT ALL!**

 **As I stated last chapter, Yuya's girlfriend is going to be a Naruto girl, to be decided by another poll. Eventually, Hagoromo is going to send some backup in the form of some living, some deceased ninja.**

 **I was going to open that poll tonight, but no one put forward any other options. As it stands, I have 5 options now that I came up with, as opposed to just 3 that I had earlier this week. In brackets are the deck that I have in mind for them.**

 **They are:**

 **Fuu (Insector)**

 **Female Haku (Ice Barrier)**

 **Shizuka (Amazon)**

 **Kurotsuchi (Volcanic/Pyro)**

 **Tayuya (Fiend deck)**

 **I'm hoping that some of you may have some other Ideas. Even If you don't, I will be opening this poll a week from now. Once this poll is open, I WILL NOT BE ACCEPTING ANY MORE ENTRIES!**

 **Thank you for your time, until next chapter…**

 **MH Out!**


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